Creatures of the past carve a niche
A wooly mammoth hides underneath the world's longest outdoor escalator, amid the flashing lights, art galleries and cocktail bars of Hollywood Road in Hong Kong's Central district.
The shaggy-haired mammoth with curling tusks is only an illustration. A promotional banner shows the prehistoric creature outside a small shop, Star Company, which sells mammoth ivory products.
Japanese-style netsuke, or miniature sculptures, fill the storefront display, enticing curious pedestrians into the upstairs showroom. Carvings occupy every corner of the store. There are scrimshawed netsuke, beaded jewelry and tusks chiseled with Chinese themes. There are also hippo teeth, walrus tusks and stone carvings packed into wall-to-wall display cases. But the vast majority of merchandise comprises mammoth.
