Ivory / Bone

What to do with Ivory / Bone jewelry, etc? (And how can i tell for sure that it isn’t plastic?)

Thank you!!

 

Selling Ivory is tough...but makes nice gifts fir family !!!

 

Close up photos of individual pieces could help.The walrus/seal scrimshaw could be walrus tusk.

 

Bone you can sell on line. It can be sold on Ebay as long as you specify which animal it came from. (they'll take down cow bone, but not bovine bone for instance.) Ivory is best sold locally, in person. It's on the Vorboten list on Eboo.

I think your pikake flower pin and Edelwiess stuff are ivory because I've seen them before. The rest? No idea. Ivory often feels soapy and has the cross-hatched lines in the material. Bone will have "bone channels", where the blood vessels were, on the back and in larger pieces. Once you've seen them a few times there's no mistaking it.

 

The long item, second item down from the top, (with the image upside down), shows a Sami (Laplander, from northern Finland or Norway) in a Four Winds hat, being pulled in a typical sled, by a reindeer. It may be a traditional needle case, missing its felt inserts and hanging loop, but it's difficult to tell from the photo.

In any event, it would be made from reindeer antler, and is obviously not Native American (although it is frequently misidentified as such), so there isn't any problem with selling it. Such items are popular souvenir items from Lapland.

The top item also is from Lapland, based on the central design of what looks to be a belt buckle, on a leather belt...or a piece of one, since the whole item isn't shown. But it could be a strap that attaches to something else. Again, most likely reindeer antler or bone.

 

Agree.

Swiss edelweiss etc carving was was done in ivory and bone, so it could be either. We definitely need good pictures of every item.