It occurred to me recently that most people don’t know how to identify ivory by sight. In some cases, ivory may be nearly indistinguishable from polished bone or other types of ivory; in these cases one can obtain a scientific sample to prove which species it comes from.

Why is it important to know about ivory? Most ivory is strictly monitored and sometimes more than one authority will have overlapping restrictions on the material. For instance, walrus ivory falls under the Marine Mammal act restrictions (which limits their use to coastal natives who rely on the material to keep their art and culture alive) and general ivory restrictions like those for elephant ivory (legislation for walrus ivory is muddy because of these overlaps). Fines for illegally selling these materials can be extremely steep, and in large quantities can even land you some jail time!

As of writing, New Jersey and New York are the most stringent on ivory restrictions, even fossilized mammoth ivory is not allowed.

Image from Boone Trading company: The root of a fossilized walrus tusk. Note the caramel-brown color of the ivory itself which is caused by mineralization.

So why is Ivory so restricted? The simple answer is the prevention of poaching. Ivory is the name for materials from tusks or large teeth with high dentine content. Dentine is the majority of the body of the tooth, which gives it its strength and structure. this dentine is coated by Enamel and Cementum. Enamel is the hardest known organic substance in the body, and cementum adheres the tusk to the bone and skin from which it grows. Craftspeople who carve ivory are looking for good, solid dentine.

Tusks are almost always evolved for a specialized use to the animal. In walruses, the tusks have to be large and strong enough to haul the 2,000 lb animal out of the water and onto ice or land. Elephants use their tusks for defense and for clearing obstacles.

In almost all cases, the size of the tusk is directly related to the animal’s ability to mate, and tusks generally grow with age. The absence of these teeth can doom the animal to a defenseless death.

Image from US Fish and Game. Anatomical diagram of how an elephant tusk grows. Note that a good 1/3 of the tusk is inside the animal’s skull,

So if they’re so precious to the animal, why carve them in the first place?

From a crafting standpoint, there are no bony structures quite like ivory. The size, shape, and density of large tusks gives the craftsperson a large canvas with a lot of potential and possibility. Tusks can be carved into vessels and tools as well as large sculptural pieces or durable jewelry. Tusks, much like bone, are meant to support a lot of wear without splitting. This makes ivory an excellent choice for large pieces.

Think somewhere between wood and stone carving.

The biggest draw to ivory is its translucence, which allows some light to pass through thin areas and gives the sculpture more depth. Ivory carvings have been found all over the world, from Japan to Russia to Northern Canada and Alaska. Africa and Southeast Asia also have ivory carvings, but these are slightly less well-documented. Ivory carving is a specialized craft that requires a lot of finesse and attention to detail and the quality of the material.

Image from University of Alaska. Fossilized mammoth tusks.

An example of a large carved ivory goblet, ca 1680 by Balthasar Griessmann

Identifying Ivory and its alternatives

Unfortunately, as stated before, one cannot separate the ivory from the animal without killing it. For every elephant there are two tusks, and each tusk is separated into 3-5 grades. The hollow end of the tusk is considered the least valuable and can be made into cups or brush holders. The middle section of the tusk is excellent for larger uses such as sculptures or billiard balls. The tip of the tusk is the strongest and can be used to make tools, handles, or intricately carved decorations like netsuke because the tip is usually solid ivory with no nerve channel. As global demand grew, more elephants were slaughtered for their disproportionately valuable tusks. Even now, poachers will often leave the rest of the elephant to rot.

There are four legal alternatives to raw ivory: these are Fossilized walrus or Mammoth, Tagua nuts, Cattle bone, and Arvorin. In the wood world, Boxwood is an extremely hard wood that can be carved to a very similar thinness to ivory. I will cover these first, as a lot of things labeled “ivory” or “vegetable ivory” may be resin casts, composites, or be made of one or more of these materials.

Image from TigueTague on Etsy. Tagua nuts have a grain much like wood or wood burls and take dye very well.

Tagua Nut - Vegetable Ivory

Tagua nuts are the new “in” thing for people who love ivory but cannot/will not support the ivory trade. Tagua nuts grow in pods and can be up to 5” in circumference. These nuts are very, very durable and no matter how you look at them, they are not at all edible! They can be sliced, carved, or laminated together to create a larger base form. Tagua nut colors range from ivory white to yellowish to amber colored (pictured), but can be dyed with commercial or natural dyes very easily.

I enjoy carving this material, but a major downside is that it HAS to be varnished or oiled to protect it. In variable humidity and temperature it is very easy for the nut to form surface cracks.

Be careful if you’re shopping for tagua nut carvings online; many large ones marketed as such are actually reconstituted tagua nut dust mixed with resin. There is a size limit to this material, so some unscrupulous dealers will market them as tagua carvings. that being said, well-cast pieces can be nearly indistinguishable and still have some of that translucent “ivory” quality. Look for seam lines and air bubbles.

Fossilized Ivory

The perks to fossilized ivory is that the animal is already long dead. In the case of mammoths, they may also be long extinct. Therefore, use of their tusks does not harm a living population in any way. Tusks are regularly excavated in the Arctic Circle by gold miners and fishermen, who can sell the ivory as a raw material for quite a bit of money!

Fossilized ivory takes on the colors of the minerals it’s exposed to. These colors can range from reds and blues to amber, browns, and blacks.

Image from IvoryBuyer.com - an example of an intact piece of tusk. Over time, exposure oxidizes the tusk and causes it to split along growth rings kind of like wood! Most fossils need to be stabilized for carving and longevity.

In the case of mammoth ivory, it can be difficult to distinguish light-colored core material from modern elephant ivory. As such, it’s a good idea to have some sort of proof that your piece is not from a modern elephant but is, in fact, from a fossilized specimen. Some tusks can be around 7 inches wide, and minerals may not penetrate to the core.

This is the closest most of us will ever get to carving ivory, but fossilization comes with its own issues. Bone does not always respond well to the elements, so parts of the tusk can be extremely chalky and oxidized. Mineral coloring is almost never even, so the minerals will show up in the work you make with it.

As stated before, it’s good to have a paper trail for your mammoth ivory if it’s light in color, as it is nearly indistinguishable from elephant ivory at the core.

Bone

The easiest and cheapest way to get bone to carve is through a butcher or through hunting. The best types of bone to carve are leg bones, as they are extremely thick and not prone to breakage. Bone has no discernable grain, but it retains the lovely translucent quality. These days, many carvers use large ungulate (hooved mammal) leg bones for art and craft. Bone ages beautifully and when utilized as a tool, stays strong and gets stronger with use. Bone is also fairly forgiving in variable humidity, much more so than enamel material.

Leg bones, despite being thick, are still hollow and are not uniform in their shape or texture. They can also be thin in some areas, which limits the crafter to relief carving or flatwork. This does not prevent skilled craftspeople from creating some incredible pieces with the material!

Arvorin (Artificial ivory)

Image from eBay - Arvorin rods shaped for pool cues and handles

Arvorin is an acrylic or resin composite which is cast to have a similar appearance to ivory. This is an excellent alternative if you want a stable substitute that, from the side, looks like elephant ivory.

The material does not melt and it appears to be compatible with woodburning. Arvorin is not flexible but is not prone to chipping or cracking, and can be polished to a high shine. This is also an afforable medium, but is somewhat hard to find.

Identifying Ivory

So we’re finally to the part where I talk about real ivory. As a bone carver and a carving collector, I have to be extremely careful in what I can buy and sell. In the USA, laws vary by state. Be sure to look up CITES laws and your state laws; it can be illegal to cross state lines with certain materials!

So what do you have in your little grabby hands?

Mammoth and Elephant Ivory

Image from US Fish and Wildlife Services. Schreger lines are unique to pachyderm ivory.

The easiest way to tell if you have a piece of mammoth or a piece of elephant tusk is its color; most mammoth tusks have mineralization from being fossilized over thousands of years. In the case of core material however, the color may be indistinguishable from elephant ivory in a carved piece.

Your next best bet is to look at the Schreger lines, or the cross-hatched grain of the tusk. Carvings will always have some evidence of these lines.Like the rings of a tree, you can see the grain best from either the top or bottom end of a piece.

Mammoth Schreger lines are narrow, acute angles. Modern elephants have wider, more square patterns. These lines are visible to the naked eye, as they are slightly darker than the surrounding ivory.

Image from Phys.org - A slice of elephant tusk on the left, fossilized mammoth on the right. Schreger lines are visible toward the outer layers.

Narwhal ivory

Image from Boone Trading Co. Narwhals have spiralling horns with a hollow nerve channel/interior. Sometimes the growth pattern can look a bit like a cinnamon roll.

Narwhals are protected by the Marine Mammal Act, which protects most cetaceans (whales/dolphins). In the arctic circle, narwhals are a delecacy: whale meat and skin has vitamin C, which is scarce in the cold dark arctic winters. Whale meat was necessary to prevent scurvy and their blubber can be rendered into oil for fuel. Narwhals themselves are fairly rare, with one tusk per animal. It’s more common to find sections or whole tusks on display than carvings, but artwork using narwhal tusks do exist. Because the tusk grows in a spiral pattern, the outside of the tusk is never smooth and its edges will have indentations.

Walrus Ivory

Walrus ivory is legal to own and sell, but only coastal natives (Inuit) are legally allowed to carve and work with this material. Walrus ivory is much like elephant ivory in form and function, albeit with a lot of aesthetic differences. The most identifiable trait of walrus ivory is its grainy core. Despite its porous appearance, this material is extremely strong, solid, and resistant to cracking. The second is that the outside of a walrus’s tusk can have superficial cracks. In modern specimens, these cracks come up as dark lines in the edges. In fossilized specimens, mineralization infiltrates these cracks and can make beautiful radiating bands of color.

The core of the tusk does not tend to discolor much, usually staying white to yellowish.

Walrus average about 2,000 lbs and use their tusks for fighting and pulling themselves out of the water onto ice or dry land. As such, these tusks have to stand up to a lot of stress throughout the animal’s life. Carved tusks and sculptures are some of the sturdiest sculptural pieces with a long life. Ivory tools are being found thousands of years later in permafrost through excavation and explorative mining.

Walrus ivory carvings are a core part of the modern Alaskan art scene. Native-made carvings are available in museums, galleries, and gift shops all over the state. If you’re so inclined, buying these pieces supports the local artists!

Image from Boone Trading Co. A fossilized walrus tusk. Oxidation and exposure have turned the exterior white, but this is the same specimen as the first picture in this blog! Looks can be deceiving :)

Bonus: Hippopotamus and Boar ivory!

Image from US Fish and Wildlife. Cross-section of a hippopotamus tusk.

Artifacts made from hippopotamus tusks are rare and way less common than other ivory types. Hippopotamus ivory is still legal to trade and is much more affordable than Mammoth ivory. The growth pattern is concentric, and the tusk is solid like walrus and mammoth.

Legend has it that George Washington had dentures carved from hippopotamus ivory. Supposedly, this is his:

Hippopotamus ivory carved dentures. This is not the only set in existence, but certainly one of the most interesting!

Boar and Hippopotamus teeth both have concentric growth rings, a sharp curve, and cross-sections are shaped like triangles or odd ovals. These tusks grow throughout the animals’ lives and captive animals usually have their tusks trimmed every so often to avoid overgrowth.

The growth rings are essential in differentiating between illegal ivory and legal boar or hippopotamus ivory. When in doubt, check for Schreger lines!

Image from Boone Trading Co. A collection of varying sizes of wild boar tusks.

Legality, Destruction, and Why

https://www.rt.com/news/341508-kenya-ivory-fire-poaching/ - In 2016, Kenya burned its largest stockpile of ivory and rhinoceros horns to protest the ivory trade and poaching. In this way, Kenya commits to its fight against elephant poaching and profit from illegal trade.

Occasionally you may hear about the destruction of millions of dollars worth of ivory. Around the world, ivory is being burned and destroyed to stem the demand and supply. In Africa, tons of elephant tusks were destroyed over the past couple of years.

But these artifacts are already made, you may say, what’s the point of destroying what’s already dead?

The problem is there’s no good, foolproof way to prove where the ivory came from. Much like the Migratory Bird Act (MBTA) in the US, it’s impossible to tell if the animal was poached or if the specimen was acquired legally. Some countries like Japan and some parts of Russia and China still carve ivory as a cultural art. An unscrupulous person could claim they are transporting it for crafting to one of these countries when they are really selling the ivory on the black market. This demonstration also destroys the valuable material, sending a message that the country does not support the trade and values its elephants over illegal profit.

Ivory has also come into the limelight because of these protective laws; the rarer ivory gets, the more the material is worth. This creates a luxury demand for ivory products, which poachers are all too happy to take advantage of.

Essentially: People trying to circumvent the law are why we can’t have nice things. Elephants are still endangered and some are protected by armed guards! Thailand has begun to trim elephant tusks to make them less desirable to poachers.

There is also some research showing that African elephant tusks are getting smaller. As mentioned earlier, larger tusks are a better bet for mating and reproducing, but they also make the elephant a prime target. As the large-tusked elephants are killed off, smaller-tusked elephants that live longer begin to fill that breeding niche. This is also true of other game and trophy animals like elk, sheep, and deer.

I believe strongly in education. Learning to identify these things can keep you out of trouble and prevent participation in harmful markets. Some people are really good liars, and maybe nothing will come of it. But remember, ivory is an animal’s protection. Every pair of tusks is one animal that is removed from the ecosystem. One person trading may not be a problem, but try thousands or even millions. In the case of walrus and whale ivory, locals will eat the meat and use the bones and skin for their livelihoods. These are generally sustainable sources and one can be assured that little to none of the animal goes to waste.

Different types of ivory and how to identify them