Carved Ivory Boat - Help identify?

Exactly, most of us know how to think a little bit outside the box, but sometimes there is just too much outside the box to come up with the right idea.

 

Thank all of your for your replies! I didn't expect to get such a response, but I'm so glad I did. So in summary - we're thinking buffalo horn, possible with MOP inlays? I think the detailing on it, the fish and the figurines, is probably elephant ivory. I'd say it's Indian as well, going by the design of the boats we've seen.

 

Pleasure Caelestius.
I don't think the details are ivory, more likely bone. Maybe the inlay too, we'd have to see detailed pictures to be able to judge that.
Buffalo horn is readily available and cheap in India, they wouldn't combine it with a prestigious material like ivory. Besides, most of these buffalo horn carvings are inlaid with bone.
You can recognise elephant ivory by even-sized lines of more and less yellow/whitish tones, and cross-hatching of these lines in parts:

Bone is far more even in colour, often white. Sometimes thin hairlines are visible that look like tiny scratches, sometimes little black spots or hairlines that are remnants of bloodvessels.
Mother-of-pearl is shiny, with a shimmer as you move it and often with a hint of colour.

 

I just found one with the box with a small bit of written information about it. Part of the label is missing. Starts with Horn Boat and is ripped but another white label says "snake boat from Kerala State, South India. If you found out anything more, I would love to know.

 

Cael.....hasn;t been seen here since this thread started over 4 years ago.....

 

Welcome Leslie.
In general I recommend starting a new thread for a new item. But since your boat seems to be the same as the boat in this 2017(!) thread, it is very likely to be a buffalo horn model of a dragon boat made in Kerala, India.
The words snake and dragon can both be used, since the mythological being is a Naga, which is usually a cross between a snake and a dragon. Nagas are important creatures in Asian mythology. Water Nagas are a specific and very powerful kind of Naga, often associated with ancestors, which is why many Asian countries have 'Dragonboat' festivals.
Kerala is known for buffalo horn carvings. True buffalo, that is, not bison.