New York's Total Ivory Ban Mammoth Too

Michael Smith

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2010
Messages
1,061
Reaction score
72
I know some of us here use mammoth ivory in our inlay work. I have read arguments pro and con about the use of mammoth and it's effect on the elephant ivory trade. Is the New York total ban the wave of the future and has it become unwise to even use mammoth? I wonder if Michele Obama will have her mammoth ivory neckless confiscated when she goes to New York fund raiser for fallen solders and their families. In some respects we have reached a point of madness on some of these issues.

New York Passes Law Banning Sale of Elephant & Mammoth Ivory 1
BY NATALIE ON JUNE 28, 2014 HOME
Last week, lawmakers in Albany passed new legislation that places a permanent ban on the sale of elephant ivory, mammoth ivory and rhinoceros horn. For antique dealers and collectors, the new law enforces strict criteria by which ivory objects can be sold: they must be at least 100 years old and consist of less than 20 percent ivory with documented proof of provenance. The bill would also make it a felony to deal in banned ivory or horn that is valued at $25,000 or more. New York is a central hub of the nationwide trade, whose estimated annual value is $500 million, and the legislation basically eliminates the state’s involvement.

Said Governor Andrew Cuomo: “With the passage of this bill, New York State has taken another step forward in the fight against the illegal ivory trade. We will not allow this dangerous and cruel industry to thrive in our State, and this bill ensures that by restricting the market for illegal ivory and adding tougher penalties for those who support it.”

ELEPHANT_2941888b
Satao, Kenya’s largest elephant, was killed by poachers for his highly-valuable ivory tusks earlier this month. Photo: RICHARD MOLLER/TSAVO TRUST
The passage of the bill arrives a week after Kenya’s largest bull elephant, named Satao, was found slaughtered in a swamp in Tsavo East National Park.

While mammoth and fossilized ivory is obtained from long-deceased animals, the overarching ban aims to crack down on elephant poaching and quell the illegal ivory trade altogether. Some might wonder why ban a substance gathered from an extinct animal, however mammoth ivory is often difficult to discern from elephant ivory, so banning both eliminates any room for doubt. Moreover, by prohibiting currently-legal transactions of antiques and mammoth ivory, the bill closes two of the loopholes most commonly used by ivory traffickers: pretending their items are mammoth or old, and thus legal, when they are often from recently-killed elephants. The law shall take effect immediately upon enactment; however, license and permit holders may sell existing elephant ivory and rhino horn until current licenses or permits expire. Once those permits expire, dealers and jewelers whose businesses rely heavily on the trade and use of the banned substances will take on the brunt of the bill, possibly going the way of the dinosaurs.

5-elephant-ivory
Confiscated ivory from New York City. Copyright Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Many argue that the so-called ‘blanket ban’ on ivory will have little effect on saving the endangered elephants in Africa by persecuting owners, buyers and sellers of legal ivory goods. Once the law is enacted, ivory-laden items such as cameos, clarinets, chess sets, pianos, and ivory-detailed decorative objects will virtually be worthless, leaving owners straddled with objects once valued at thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars and not a single soul to sell to.

For new jewelry, a number of brands and designers will also feel the effects of the ban. Contemporary designers like Monique Péan, Bibi van der Velden and Bochic, whose designs often incorporate fossilized mammoth ivory, may find difficulty in selling pieces composed of the now-illegal material, even though they were made before the ban. Additionally, esteemed brands like Verdura, Seaman Schepps and Trianon, whose signature cuffs, link bracelets, earrings and other jewelry designs frequently use mammoth ivory, will be forced to discontinue a number of their iconic pieces. There’s no question that designers of this caliber will find new exotic materials that push the boundaries of jewelry design in a similar fashion as fossilized ivory.
 
Last edited:
It does seem faintly ridiculous and a bit like slinging baby out with the bathwater...I thought that dealing in "new ivory" was already illegal...if there are stockpiles of old fossilized and extinct animal (Mammoth) ivory lying around, well use them ....that should stop the necessity to use poached (and therefore illegal and rightly so) ivory ....oh, and shoot the poachers on sight use ...I get a bit fed up with the hand wringing brigade who say "well,they are only trying to put food on the table for their kids.... so's a bank robber" :eek:
 
I don't know about using ivory of any kind on Ukes. Are we talking about nuts and saddles, or what, exactly?
 
Last edited:
I'm sure if I tried hard enough ...I could manage without Ivory or mamoth tusk....There's plenty of bones out there.;)
 
As a matter of fact there are large piles of mammoth ivory laying around. In Russia there is an estimated 150 million mammoths under the frozen tundra. With increasing global warming they are being exposed and dug out by the locals.
 
I find it a strange thing for a country that Napalmed Vietnamese children also bans the use of Mammoth ivory to save elephants..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
 
I find it a strange thing for a country that Napalmed Vietnamese children also bans the use of Mammoth ivory to save elephants..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

...Heavy...but right on....
 
Hmm, guess the old ivory piano keys I've been saving are out too. Wonder about my sperm whale tooth? The antique ivory paper knives I brought back from England in the 70's, the ivory chopsticks I brought back from Okinawa in the early 60's?
 
Hmm, guess the old ivory piano keys I've been saving are out too. Wonder about my sperm whale tooth? The antique ivory paper knives I brought back from England in the 70's, the ivory chopsticks I brought back from Okinawa in the early 60's?

All classic examples of why do gooders with a Birth date of post say 1980 ish should be sat down and given a good talking too....especially the English Knives ...most of our pre 70's cutlery will be whale bone or ivory ...it was the then done thing ....oh no ...now watch ....
 
Hmm, guess the old ivory piano keys I've been saving are out too. Wonder about my sperm whale tooth? The antique ivory paper knives I brought back from England in the 70's, the ivory chopsticks I brought back from Okinawa in the early 60's?

Whale products,and walrus ivory have been under the ban since 1973. I was contemplating some Baleen inlays, bridge and nut just a week ago. Cuomo probably didn't think about the impact on the corset industry. It is sad a viable compromise cannot be devised for artist use of renewable resources.

@ Mike and Beau: I suspect baleen wouldn't be best for nuts or bridges because of porosity. Is that correct?
 
Top Bottom