Hand Carved Ivory Chess Set

Hello! I’m new here. My fiancé has a hand carved ivory chess set that was given to him about 20 years ago. I don’t have very many pictures yet. I’m not sure if all the pieces are there. It doesn’t have a board but he is going to make one. Could I get some input on where I could sell it or what it could be worth? Thank you!

 Here's a link to the regulations on selling ivory.

https://www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers.html

Oh and here's a link to half a dozen other threads....Good luck!

https://www.chess.com/forum/search?keyword=selling+ivory

Pretty sure Ebay is no longer taking ivory listings either...sorry.  But hey, maybe there is good news and it's not ivory at all and you can sell it no problem.  It could be a bone set from India I suppose.  Anyone else have any thoughts?

Thank you! I wasn’t even sure where to begin!

Hi TessaJas,

Did you ever find out about your chess set? I just discovered a set almost like yours in a back cupboard of the house.

Lonnie

I am pretty sure that is bone and not ivory. Hard to tell with the limited pics.

informaticobach29 is correct. I actually do like those sets but they're not worth very much. $100 would be a very good price for it with all the pieces and cedar board/box it came in. Good news is it's not ivory. If your fiance is going to go to the time to make a new board for it you might prefer to keep it.

Dude you have no idea what you are talking about. Ivory comes from tusks and teeth . Search it up before embarrassing yourself. 

LOL

ArtOfArcane, you know trolling a thread asking about ivory chess sets by being outraged at the ethical implications of ivory is the tradition. I appreciate you trying to be original here but no need to reinvent the wheel.

Don't let the screen door........

No need to. Have a nice day. 😎

This is a very well-known set (for example https://www.google.com/search?q=mexican+bone+and+wood+chess+set&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjf4ZnAnMbsAhVEXM0KHWSuBNYQ_AUoAnoECAgQBA&biw=1920&bih=969) which does come from Mexico and not India, though maybe BK made something similar (with camel bone and a different wood... I don't think they would use cow bone and cedar in India)? Although every collector just kind of knows these sets I can't say they've been written up very well in the literature. The types with the faces and those made completely in bone are somewhat better documented but this one I think the only reference I have is probably in the Keats book and it's not right. He mistakes it for a French Lyon set which is a different thing entirely.

@Art0fArcane - you could hardly be more wrong than that! Bones and tusks both consist of organic and anorganic substances. However, the major organic substance of bones is collagen, while the major organic substance tusks are made of is dentin. Two tissues which are not even remotely comparable. Further, the structure of bone and tusk is entirely different and, again, not even remotely comparable. The good thing is that one does not need a medical degree to figure that out. Even Wikipedia helps to get a grasp of the basics! A brain helps, though...

@Art0fArcane - to give a little further explanation:

Inside the cortex, the cortical bone is made up of osteons, a system of lamellae that run along the length of the bone and are arranged concentrically around small channels, forming the so-called Haversian system. Small blood vessels run in these channels and supply the bone tissue. Since these channels are distributed throughout the bone tissue and, depending on their size, also protrude more or less clearly in the processed state, they are an unmistakable distinguishing feature for bone work. They are often visible on the surface as dark spots or elongated dark spots, which can sometimes be traced back to remnants of the blood vessels running in them, which were not reliably removed during the cleaning and preparation of the bone, or to soiling, as remnants of dust and dirt can naturally accumulate in the openings of the channels over time.

In ivory you will not find pores like that. Ivory may develop a little stain due to UV light exposure over time and you may see dark spots where nerves ran through the tooth, but the dentin tissue is significantly different from the collagen tissue of the bone.

The most reliable way to identify ivory is by looking for Schreger lines. These are also caused by little canals in the tissue, but are much smaller. The lines appear, because the light in these areas is reflected in a different way, showing them as some kind of grain in the material. In the absence of Schreger lines, it may still be difficult to distinguish between high quality bone and ivory in a carved an unpolished condition by the mere looks of it. The material you have for bone pieces is just the little material on the outer part of a marrow bone, whereas for ivory you have almost the full diameter of a tusk, which is why you can make massive monobloc chess pieces from ivory, but you will not be able to make them from bone.

To give examples: In the picture below, showing the underside of an ivory chess piece, you can see clearly visible Schreger lines. If you find any of these it is ivory without any doubt. There are ways to further distinguish between fossil ivory and elephant ivory, but this would go too far now.

These, on the other hand, are very clearly visible Haversian pores. If you find something like this on your pieces, it is definitely bone and not ivory.

I hope that chess set it an old one. It would be disgusting if the elephant was killed in recent times for the purpose of making the pieces of a chess set. 

I don't agree with killing any game animal for sport. Modern day poachers kill for harvesting the ivory and let the rest of the carcass rot. Game hunters back in the day utilized the whole animal. Taking the ivory and the African guide harvesting the rest of the animal for the tribe. Game management has improved over the years.