Featured 7 pieces of Ivory - advice please

Good morning

I have a question, we were left ivory pieces from a late relative 3 tusks and 4 carved pieces now I am sure these are not pre 1940 and I believe the 2 of the 3 big tusks to be part of a dinner gong set. What do I do with them? as I believe we can't sell them and they are not wanted by anybody in the family, they have been sat in my loft for a year already. I don't know the history of them or how they came to be in an old late relatives possession, any help would be greatly appreciated please. I don't want to post pictures yet because I'm not sure about such items being in somebody's possession.

Many thanks - Nicola

 

Firstly it depends on where you live, in the UK for example you can sell ivory from pre 1947. Exporting it is more tricky and generally not worthwhile though.

The best bet would be to show them to your nearest quality auction house, they will be able to evaluate the date and set out whether or not you are able to sell them. It is possible you may have to surrender them to the authorities if they are considered later in date.

 

As Ce BCA said, if no one in your family wants them, you can either keep them yourself and put them in the attic where one day, they may be worth more than gold when we finish killing off the rest of the elephants.....or.... you can take them down to your local reputable auction house for evaluation to determine if they can be sold or if your local laws require you to turn them in.

Given your family member had them, I am thinking they were not under any obligation to turn them in. While my humble opinion, if they were in my possession, my options would be exclusively to keep them and put them away for the future. As I said, they continue to kill elephants in Africa and Asia and eventually they will go extinct. When that happens, the bans on the sale of elephant ivory will no longer make sense.

I would not recommend you sell them directly to anyone outside of a reputable auction house, nor would I recommend you give them away to someone. Even today, Ivory is very, very valuable.

 

The law are different from country to country, and in the USA, even state to state. The internet is a great source to find out what laws apply to you based on location, location, location. But in most all cases, you will need some documentions to show provenience to sell. Very important, if you do not have search extremely well for them. This will be 90% of your ability to sell.

 

Depending on where you are located, you may be able to donate ivory objects to a non-profit museum, particularly if the pieces have artistic value. But contact the proposed museum and discuss a possible donation before taking it there.

For those located in the U.S., here is a page from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that discusses what to do with ivory:
https://www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers.html

 

Where I live, the best advise is to stash it in a back room and leave it there. You can't sell it here, but in other states you can. Just don't try to ship it anywhere.

 

leave them in the loft for now...u can revisit them down the road..

 

JMHO.
I'd ask the still living relatives for a handwritten - eventually aknowledged by a lawyer - confirmation where they come from including all details they remember.
sometimes a bit hard to get any infoes from them, but worth a try.