Featured Carved Ivory salt & pepper shakers

Okay, I sure don't want to get in trouble.

 

VERY nice Billy !!! ... Joy. ..

 

Are we sure they are whale & not walrus?

 

Thanks Joy....

 

pretty sure, yes !
seeing as how I have a 4 inch tooth in my hand right now...

 

I'm a Libra; I always have to get both sides in. I have only a few Zuni carvings in walrus tooth & a couple in tusk for direct experience, & many billikens being offered for sale are described as definitely or possibly being walrus.

I'm won over to whale tooth now: that natural hollow inside is great for salt shaker makers but not consistent with walrus of either type.

 

I agree. They're really cute, but they're not ivory.

 

well the bilikins are northern....but where did the Zuni get walrus...anything ????

Oh No!
Think again....
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally elephants') and teeth of animals, that can be used in art or manufacturing. It consists mainly of dentine (inorganic formula Ca10(PO4)6(CO3)·H2O)), one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is the same, regardless of the species of origin. The trade in certain teeth and tusks other than elephant is well established and widespread; therefore
,****** "ivory" can correctly be used to describe any mammalian teeth or tusks of commercial interest which are large enough to be carved or scrimshawed.[1]********
It has been valued since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes[2] and joint tubes.[3] Elephant ivory is the most important source, but ivory from mammoth, walrus, hippopotamus, sperm whale, killer whale, narwhal and wart hog are used as well.[4][5] Elk also have two ivory teeth, which are believed to be the remnants of tusks from their ancestors.[6]

 

Idk what they are made of, but the shape is quite different from the rest, if that gives any clues. (Unless it’s just modified somehow)

 

They got the "ivory" from the same places everyone else in the states did.Rock and Gem shops,large Gem and Mineral shows like "Tucson Gem and Mineral Show" which has been around for 60+ years,etc.

 

interesting...

 

Trade, which I have read was going on all up & down the Pacific coast, South America to North & back, as long as the coasts have been settled. Archeologists find parrot feathers in places where there were never parrots, jade where there are no local deposits, etc.. But my pieces are modern, not out of an excavation. For all I know, the walrus teeth were bought on eBay.