Featured Antique IVORY Chopsticks

An early birthday present



They are exactly 10.5 inches long, and solid ivory.

 

good 4 u shang.....u got the ivory ones u were looking 4 !!!!

 

My two pairs of chopsticks!

Top: Ivory. 10.5in. long.
Bottom: Sterling Silver. 8in. long.

 

They are absolutely superb!

 

It's been a dream of mine to own a pair of ivory chopsticks for about 10 years. I never thought I'd ever get a pair!

 

Assistance, please, from knowledgeable people!

My ivory chopsticks are the same length...but not the same shape! They're both rather warped/bent from age, and I'm trying to straighten them out and remove the kink.

I've read online that the best way to do this is to clamp the chopstick to a flat surface, and to apply steam to it, to re-moisten the ivory and work out the warping. Is this safe to do? It seems easy enough, although apparently it can take a while.

 

It is best not to apply too much heat, ivory can split when it gets too hot.
What I usually do with fans, is tie them to something straight and gently tighten the ties everytime the ivory has given way a little.
With chopsticks you'd need someting on either side of the stick, making sure the ivory and the decoration don't get damaged. It will take time.

Will you be making a pouch for these as well? No leather one of course.

 

How do you straighten your ivory? Do you do it with the curve facing towards the flat surface, or the curve facing away? I'm just using the steam coming off of a mug of hot water to apply heat. I'm aware of the fragility of antique ivory, I've collected enough of it over the years!

I've clamped one of the sticks to a flat wooden surface using a pair of sprung clothes-pins and have placed a large mug of hot water underneath to steam it.

 

With chopsticks I would apply something flat to both sides.

 

OK that shouldn't be too difficult. I considered just stacking books on top of them without applying heat. Would that work as well? Or not? They're square cross-sectioned, so they're not going to roll anywhere.

And to answer your other question, yes, I do intend to make some sort of pouch or container for them.

 

Yes, that would work. Not too many to start with, but you probably know how much ivory can take.

 

So would stacking books on the chopsticks eventually just straighten them out? If so I'd rather do that, it sounds safer than applying clamps...

 

It would, but it will take time.
You can still use them, but put them back underneath the stack everytime you've used them.

 

I can wait! Some of my best restorations have taken YEARS to complete! LOL. Right now they're on a flat tabletop with about six big coffee-table history-books sitting on top of them, to press them flat.

They are quite literally pinned down by the weight of history above them!

I shall leave them overnight and see what happens in the morning.

When I originally bought them, they were tied down to a flat, cardboard panel, face-up, which I think is why they're now so badly warped in that direction. They'd clearly been held that way for many, many years. Pressing them out should hopefully restore their original shape.

 

You're a brave man, but as long as they can take the weight it is ok.

 

As Robert Lindsay said in the 'HORNBLOWER' series:

'There's daring and calculation on one hand and carelessness and foolhardiness on the other'.

or words to that effect!

They can take the weight. I don't want to pile anything else on top, just in case.

 

I have an antique tie-press somewhere! I'll use that!

 

Currently clamping them as you can see. The bottom two photographs show how dramatic the curve is.