NOTICE:

Ivory has been banned strictly in China and other countries!

Trading ivory is seriously illegal in China, however, mammoth tusks artwares is legal.

Ivory carving is one of China’s oldest arts, and examples of skillfully carved ivory have been found in the tombs of the Shang dynasty (c. 16th century–1046 BCE) kings; these pieces are so well designed and executed that they suggest a long previous development, probably going back to prehistoric times.

In ancient China elephants still roamed the forests of the Huang He (Yellow River) region

, so that the supply of ivory was close at hand. At the court of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE) it became fashionable for princes and high officials to carry narrow memorandum tablets of ivory. Called hu, these were generally worn as girdle pendants. In the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) these ivory tablets came to be considered as marks of rank and were required for formal dress. Later, during the Tang dynasty (618–907) and the Song dynasty (960–1279), these tablets were greatly elongated and were carried by court officials as a kind of sceptre as well as a writing surface for memoranda.

The tablets continued to be carried as a mark of high court rank until the fall of the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. Some ivory figurines have also survived from these periods in Chinese history. Other carvings consist of flat ivory pieces that were painted or stained a dark colour and then carved to form intricate patterns of birds and animals or geometric figures, the carvings finally being stained with other colours or left plain.

Beijing and Guangzhou continued to be centres for the finest Chinese ivory carving until after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912. In subsequent years the output declined, resulting from the lack of Imperial patronage. From that time on, the industry was devoted chiefly to supplying foreign residents and tourists with ivory canes, card cases, and other objects. Because these buyers were not discriminating, the quality, which had been declining after the mid-19th century, deteriorated at an accelerating pace.

How to identify real ivory?

Ivory carvings, fashioned for thousands of years from the tusks of mammoths, elephants, rhinos and other animals, still captivate collectors even after recent controversy about the import of African elephant tusks. Artistic ivory carvings, from Buddha figurines to elaborate carved slabs of animal and landscape scenes, can sell for large sums if they're authenticated and sought after by collectors.

Learn the difference between genuine ivory carvings and bone sculpture being sold as ivory. Dentine, which forms around tooth pulp, comprises most of the elephant or hippo tusk. Ivory has a glossy surface and a dentine line throughout it. Bone carvings, sometimes passed off or mistaken for ivory, have dots and dashes throughout the piece and have a lackluster surface.

Determine the legal status of the ivory. Mammoth ivory carvings can be brought into the United States legally; new ivory from African elephants has been banned from import into America since 1989. Illegal carvings, offered for sale on the Internet as bone instead of ivory, often come from China.

Check the origin of the ivory carving. Artists still create sculptures from rare woolly mammoth tusks, which have been excavated from various sites in Siberia and Alaska. To see if your carving was fashioned from valuable mammoth tusk, look for a bluish tinge caused by thousands of years of exposure to minerals in the soil. Other types of ivory may still bring lofty prices, but mammoth tusk carvings remain highly collectible due to their rarity.

Find patterns and grain in the ivory carving. Use a magnifying glass to identify straight lines and criss-crossed lines which run together on ivory tusks as well as Schreger angles on the dentine, shaped like the letter “V”. These highly detailed lines separate real ivory from fakes and replicas.

Contact a qualified ivory appraiser. They should follow Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice guidelines and have experience in determining the value of ivory sculptures. Some firms specialize in appraising ivory figurines and carvings.