[hollig]

hi there my name is frances garner we live on the wirral in cheshire in the uk

we recently emptied a relatives house and found a small collection 6 in all of victorian ivory parasol handles

and a very large hippo tusk that came from uganda in the 1950s the handles are between 5 and 8 inches in length

the hippo tusk is just over 24 inchs long by 3 inches across and 8 inches around

it is quite heavy weighing over 4 lbs if these are of any use to people how would we dispose of them

best regard frances

[fkvesic]

Hi Frances.

I'm not sure, but I don't think you can sell the ivory abroad. There's now legislation (known as CITES or CITIES) governing the sale of all elephant ivory, so you'd need to look that up to see how/if it can be sold on/disposed of, if that is legal. Are the handles plain and solid ivory?

Hippo teeth are used for carving, but I've never heard of any that were 2ft. long. If you put up some photos of the pieces, people could advise you better about what the material is. If you're intending to sell some/all of the pieces, you'll also need to look up prices.

As I'm UK based, I'd be interested in some of both varieties, if you're intending to sell. You can PM me on TCP, if you decide to do so,

Freda.

[RUSS]

Hi frances,
interested in the materials you have....have a look in your in box I've sent you a PM

cheers ... Russell...

[fkvesic]

The best way to check on whether the sale of this hippo tusk ivory is legal in the UK is to contact DEFRA

http://www.defra.gov.uk/

Phone no: Defra helpline - 08459 33 55 77 - Mon-Fri: 8am to 6pm

My reading of what I could find on the inernet is that the sale of unworked hippo ivory, even internally to the UK, is illegal unless covered by a CITES certificate, for which proof is needed of its legal acquisition. I could be wrong here, which is why it's worth checking with the powers that be. Hippo ivory comes under Appendix 2 of the CITES treaty, or Annex 2 as DEFRA re-interprets it.

[Knife-Scales]

hollig, on May 23 2009, 02:29 PM, said:

hi there my name is frances garner we live on the wirral in cheshire in the uk

we recently emptied a relatives house and found a small collection 6 in all of victorian ivory parasol handles

and a very large hippo tusk that came from uganda in the 1950s the handles are between 5 and 8 inches in length

the hippo tusk is just over 24 inchs long by 3 inches across and 8 inches around

it is quite heavy weighing over 4 lbs if these are of any use to people how would we dispose of them

best regard frances

I think those materials are valuable nowadays.