posted on August 1, 2004 12:17:33 AM
I am new at this estate sale stuff. I picked up a REAL ivory and silver sword shapped letter opener. It's about 8 inches long, carved and it IS Ivory or bone. Isn't that illegal to sell on ebay? If it is, where in the heck am I going to sell this thing? Here is a foto of it.
Edited to add these links on tests to I.D. different materials. So far, I have found it very helpful in identifying what some of this stuff I have is made from. Hope it helps someone.
http://www.buttonimages.com/collector_info/identify.htm
Great links, thanks. I'm not 100% sure with eBay, but I know that as long as it is old ivory it can be sold in the U.S. You might want to put Antique in your title just to keep it clear that it's not new.
Yours was an easy one. I had someone last year try to get me to sell a purse made from an actual leopard's head. His poor little face was on the front of the purse, ears and all. I asked her if she'd like to see me in prison and facing a $5,000 fine. "Leopards are endangered, you idiot girl! Lose the purse, give it to the natural history museum, whatever. Just get rid of it."
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
posted on August 1, 2004 05:19:35 AM
if you sell on ebay,you cannot sell elephant or walrus ivory,antique or no antique on ebay.
But many sellers get around it by saying just ivory,and no mention whether it is elephant or walrus.
Your piece does not look like a letter opener,it is more a pendant to be worn.
is the design raised??if so,it could be molded resin .
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on August 1, 2004 08:45:30 AM
Ivory?!? This looks like Incolay or a similar man-made stone-like material. That decoration is cast into a mold, not carved. It is meant to be a decorative item.
This does NOT look like ivory. The color is wrong, and it is uniform from end to end. And I really doubt that black overlay is silver.
The problem with those "tests" for ivory is that the test is only to distinguish resin from ivory or bone. Yes, a hot needle will penetrate resin, but it won't penetrate an artificial stone material. That doesn't mean that material is therefore ivory.
If you persist in asserting this is ivory, you're going to have to post some closeup shots showing the grain before I become a believer.
posted on August 1, 2004 08:46:49 AM
I sold an ivory antique letter opener from the estate of good family friends about a year ago with no problem whatsoever. I listed it as such in the title.
___________________________________
Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
If you have a loupe, you should notice a graining if it's Ivory. That's about the best way to test it. If it's old, it will have yellowed and as iareateacher said, it shouldn't be uniform in color.
Whatever it is, it's pretty.
Edited to add: pin testing is about the worse type of testing you can do. It damages the item beyond repair and if something turns out to be celluloid, you can get burned. Celluloid is highly flamable as you may already know.
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Aug 1, 2004 02:49 PM ]
posted on August 1, 2004 09:44:09 AM
Sorry teacher, I can't get any closer with my silly digital camera without it being all a blurr. I did use a look and did see the irregular grain but you need a loop to see it. I don't have a camera that can get in that close. The back of the sword has discolored. It was such a bad foto that I didn't list it. I will try to take another foto and post that later. I wonder if my old scanner can get in closer. If it can, I'll crop the foto so you can see the grain etc I did the rub test, the ultraviolet light test etc. I will try to post those later too.
I know about pin tests. When I first started out with antiques, some smart show off person did that to almost all of my grandmother's bedroom set, the powder jar, the back of the mirror, the top of the jar etc. I was so mad. I still have it and the burn marks are evident on the botton right near the mfg mark. I wasn't happy and I didnt ask that they do this. Oh well, that's the past.
