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Why did ivory carving become less important in western Europe after the 12th century?

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Inupiat shaman's figure. — ivory carving Kinugumiut Inupiat incised walrus ivory shaman's figure, c. 1890; in the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center, Smithsonian Institution, New York City.

In Western Europe, ivory carving became less significant as a major art form or a primary adjunct to religious and imperial liturgies from the 12th century onward due to a fundamental shift in artistic priorities. During the Romanesque and subsequent Gothic periods, the focus of Western art moved away from the embellishment of smaller sacred objects toward the creation of monumental works, including the construction of cathedrals, the production of large-scale stained glass, and the development of monumental painting.1

While ivory carving ceased to be a dominant artistic medium, it did not disappear entirely. Workshops continued to produce religious diptychs and triptychs in the Gothic style, and ivory remained a material for utilitarian items such as caskets, combs, mirror cases, writing tablets, and chess pieces, often decorated with scenes of courtly love or literary romances.1