Featured Celluloid Dance Card Portrait Inside

Wow, thanks again nuff! I will contact him and see what he says!

 

Hope it turns out to be a known artist!

As a follow-up, if you are heading for Ebay with this, be forewarned that there are a lot of rules about selling ivory, even a thin wafer like this. I sold 3 antique miniature oval portraits last year, as I recall I didn't specify the material other than saying it looked like "some kind of organic material". In fairness, I had my suspicions it was ivory but wasn't totally sure. It seemed to slide under the radar and all three were sold without a problem. I notice some auctions with ivory advertised loud and clear, not exactly sure where Ebay stands at the moment. Maybe it has to do with international shipping.

The amazing set of 48 miniature portraits of Shahs and their wives (Sothebys valued the collection at 10K) were refused for sale. Sothebys called me and said they had some "good news and some bad news". Good news was value, bad news they couldn't take them due to new ivory regulations.

 

Thanks Lucille, I was wondering about this. 'Organic material is a brilliant idea!
Too bad about the 48 miniatures. So what happens to all these ivory pieces that is out there I wonder.

 

I suppose either sold privately, sold with other descriptive words, or stored. Sotheby's recommendation was to "Hold on to them for a while".

 

Actually, I think he looks the proper portrait of a hobbit.

 

too funny, my son thought Hobbit too!

 

Lovely item... what a great find!

 

Great!

Fig

 

I dont know if this's news to anyone, I hadn't checked in awhile, but eBay may be letting items at least 100 years old slide.

Per Federal Trade Commission: "On May 15, 2014, we revised Director’s Order 210 to allow the sale of certain 100-year-old items that were either created in the United States or imported prior to September 22, 1982—the date that antique ports were designated."

 

Id swear I see "rou ???" on his shoulder as well ?

 

that is interesting scoutshouse, is this from the ebay site?

 

No, it came from:

http://culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com/2014/05/ivory-ban-relaxed-little-museums-should.html?m=1

I haven't cross-checked it and eBay published standards haven't been amended or anything. I just thought it was interesting. I've always thought/hoped that older treasures would eventually be allowed.

There are just as many articles out there exposing ebay for selling ivory illegally.

 

I just found it on Ebay. Not sure if the policy has changed recently. I'll cut and paste:

Though there a few exceptions, most ivory products can't be offered on eBay because of various international trade restrictions and treaties banning the sale of these items. You can find additional information about ivory laws below.

Exceptions:

• Antiques that contain 5 percent or less of real ivory and were made before the year 1900–for example:
  • Musical instruments with ivory keys, such as a flute, a piano, or a trumpet
    
    
  • Furniture with ivory inlay or ivory drawer handles, such as a cabinet, a hutch, or a desk
    
    When selling these items:
    
    
  • Include a picture of the item in your listing
    
    
  • Specify the exact year the item was made and include the info in your listing description
  (end)

Now I'm remembering what Sothebys said exactly. These were not my portraits so I had to think back... The point was if they were purchased internationally certain rules applied.

Sotheby's would have been interested if the item was "accompanied by a document from the exporting country attesting that it was acquired before 1976 (by the current or previous owner)".

(As for the portrait in the dance card, I don't think this will be an issue at all, but minimally I would avoid writing "ivory" on any kind of customs form.)

 

ahhhh - documentAtion. Damn rabbit hole!

How long ago was that? At first I thought it was either/or, but now understand as having to have both age and import compliance.

An appraiser (or for that matter Sotheby's) could certify an object was over one hundred years old - one would think.

I know at least one who destroyed his collections of ivory he'd been acquiring since 1960, probably.

 

Sotheby's needed that documentation regardless of age. This was Oct 2014. I think it had to do with international shipping rules.


Just found that Antiques Roadshow has a detailed page on ivory laws:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/chattanooga_200804A10.html

 

Lots of information but it still seems pretty hazy (to me) - probably best to avoid using the word ivory.

 

Well, I don't have to worry too much about it cuz I have no ivory!

Interesting though.

 

That's good to know... thanks for posting it, Scout!

I have some older ivory items that I probably would like to sell at some point.

 

Try being a Native art dealer and avoiding ivory !!!

 

Hi nuff...I was giving ya'all a nice break from my presence.