Phoenician work on ivory objects have been found all around the Mediterranean, the islands and the inland domains of the ancient empires in palaces, tombs and sacrifices in temples. Ivory-carving was a long established craft in the Eastern Mediterranean and ivory was considered a precious commodity. Many discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Cyprus, Carthage, Malta, and Sardinia confirm this.

The ivories from all these sites include furniture such as chairs, thrones, footstools and beds. Smaller items of ivory, such as boxes, handles for fans or fly-whisks, cosmetic implements, and even horse blinkers and harness trappings. Paint, gold leaf, and inlaid stones, glass and paste made many of these Phoenician ivories bright and colorful. Also, toilet articles such as combs, mirror handles and plaques from small boxes are other forms of there work in Ivory.

Ivory objects are better known than metal objects of silver, bronze ones between the ninth and seventeenth centuries. However, nineteenth century objects were unearthed in sanctuaries and tombs in Italy, Greece, Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus. It should be noted that center of production were identified in Cyprus and in Etruria (Markoe 1985: 7-8, 11, 27, 68, 141-42). Homer praises Phoenician bowls in the Iliad (chapter 23, lines 741-44; Lattimore 1962). They were decorated with pictures of animals or mythological creatures, hunting scenes, duels between men, between animals, and between men and animals, as well as soldiers marching in processions or engaging in battle or siege, Egyptian influence in the form of Pharaohnic dress, gods, and other "Egyptian" decorative styles.

Items carried personal names in Phoenician, Aramaic, Greek and Cypriot syllabic. Sometimes these were names of the craftsmen or owners. Phoenician craftsmen sought to create a design rather then disseminate a message or some sort of meaning. These provided an international look for these items

Frequently the handle takes the form of the long, curving neck and head of a bird, such as a swan or ibis, with the bird's wing incised onto the razor's shoulder. Early razors are undecorated or (especially in Sardinia) ornamented only with patterns of dots or abstract or floral designs. In the fourth century and later, the bodies of many razors were incised with representational motifs, usually animals, humans and divinities, ants are also common, plants such as the lotus, the palm (palms frequently occur on sacrificial stelae) and other, more abstract floral decorations. The shaving crescent was decorated separately, sometimes with geometric or floral motifs, less often with representational motifs. The motifs on razors are also found on other minor arts, such as scarabs and jewelry, and on sacrificial stelae.

The Greek gods Heracles and Hermes are also represented on Carthaginian razors (Heracles twice, Hermes once). The Carthaginians in particular borrowed many Greek motifs and religious symbols and copied Greek artistic conventions starting in the fifth century BC, a century of much contact and conflict between the two peoples, especially in Sicily.

Other Phoenician cities inherited some Greek-inspired iconography from Carthage and also borrowed ideas directly from their Greek neighbors or imitated Greek goods acquired through war, travel and trade.