Dictionnaire biographique des ivoiriers de Dieppe du XVIIe siècle à aujourd'hui

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Dieppe was one of the largest ports in Europe. Ships returned from Africa and America laden with tobacco, spices and ivory. This noble and precious material came from elephants, particularly in Guinea, but also from walruses, sperm whales, narwhals and hippopotamuses, as well as long mammoth tusks found in Alaska. At its peak, Dieppe had a dozen master ivory carvers, employing 250 workers.

The result of fifteen years of research, this dictionary lists the ivory carvers of Dieppe and its region from the 17th century to the present day. All of them contributed to making the town a major centre of renown, at least in Europe, if not internationally. Despite a few publications, including Ivoires et ivoiriers de Dieppe by Ambroise Milet, published in 1906, and Cahiers de l'ivoire edited by Pierre Ickowicz at the Dieppe Museum between 2004 and 2022, no work had previously listed Dieppe's ivory carving professionals in such an exhaustive manner.