Question about antique chess set

I got an email from a lady in my area who asked if I could provide any information about a chess set with carved ivory pieces she had bought at a thrift store. Here are some pictures she took. If you know about this set, I can give you her email address to contact directly. Thanks.

Tell your lady friend that it's against the law to sell ivory sets, no matter how old they are.

Ker-Pow!

I'll tell her that, although she's not a friend, just a person I never heard of who sent me an email asking for information. She probably got my email address from the contact information for the Sacramento Chess School, where I'm a volunteer coach for school kids learning chess.

If her story is true and she found the set at a thrift shop, what's the proper thing for her to do with it now?

This information is fairly easy to find: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/06/us-ivory-ban-regulations/ 

There are only a handful of states where it illegal to sell at all. It is illegal to sell it across state lines. Probably she can find better information for her state by googling it.

If she takes a better picture of the bottom of one of the pieces in sunlight I could say whether it looks like ivory to me. At the moment I think it probably is. 

@tmkroll:  Thanks, that's useful information and I'll pass it on. Her state is California. If she takes the picture you suggested and sends it to me, I'll post it here so you can take a look.

Oh, in that case loubalch is right. Maybe she should take it back to the store? (I guess I should have figured that from the Sacramento thing)

Thanks. She didn't say whether she plans to keep it or try to sell it. I'll tell her that if she wants to sell it, she's out of luck unless it's not really ivory. It sounds like it might be legal for her to give it away. If so, and she wants to do that, I'll volunteer to take it off her hands. Or maybe I could persuade her to donate it to the Sacramento Chess Club.

Hi Bob,

This set is not as antique as one would assume.  I checked the Asian section of Victor Keats Illustrated Guide to World Chess Sets and could find nothing similar.  In basic overall form, this set reminds me of one of those cheap composite Asian sets.  However, the fine detail indicates otherwise.

Anyway, you can see something similar in Jon Crumiller's collection, though he gives his short shrift as a mass produced work from the 1950s through the 1970s.  Since this set was purchased from a thrift store, it may come from the same period; it is hard to tell without examining it in person.

She can contact Jon Crumiller by clicking at the bottom of his webpage.

Best,
Bob

i am looking for some similar information on a chess set i bought about 9 years back, no im not looking to sell it id just like some more info if perhaps anyone has any. all i can tell is it is seemingly ivory and the metal clip that holds the board together says world. any leads as to the history,origin or make would be greatly appreciated thanks

If this set is ivory, it should be destroyed or kept in the owner's "closet of shame."  Everytime ivory exchanges hands for money, it contributes to the poaching epidemic we have going on in countries where the few wild elephants still live.  This applies to so called "mammoth ivory" as well.  Possessing Ivory should be given the same contemptuous treatment we give to people with real-fur tiger coats.  

Can't tell if ivory or not without closer up picture. It looks like a mass produced 20th century Chinese set and is not worth anything. It's quite a bit lower quality than the OP's post and you used to see these for a long time on eBay, probably still advertised as Ox bone (oh hey here's one... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Chinese-carved-Chess-set-tea-stained-w-Board-Box-/172369590887?hash=item2822073a67:g:X-8AAOSwAuZX4sai a bit better quailty than the set in question, more like the OP's and it sure looks real to me.) People here are overreacting a bit but this set is clearly bad ivory if it's real. The laws have gotten a lot stricter lately. It may even be hard/impossible to take across some state lines depending where you live?; I'm not sure; you can look it up. Certainly if you're not planning to sell it I don't see any harm, but (sorry to be so completely negative) I don't feel it's a very good set.

You can look at item 4 on the "anonymous" chess collector blog for his opinion on these sets: http://anonymouschesscollector.blogspot.com/2007/06/advise-to-novice-ebayers.html

"This is a Chinese chess set, probably made in Hong Kong after 1950. It is post-1947 set (E.U. and U.K. allow import of antique ivory dating prior to June 1947) and the carving of the pieces is nothing to be proud of. There are plenty of these offered in eBay and I for example do not consider them collectable. I am truly sorry for the enormous quantities of material utterly wasted on these sets."

Tristan wrote this with a picture of set that looks like yours but with puzzle balls long before the regulations got as tight as they are today. 

That said I admit I have a bad ivory set that I've displayed in my collection for years. It's French African and I think it's a bit more interesting.

http://www.tykroll.com/chess/regence/ivory%20Regence/ivoryreg1.JPG

It's one of my early buys and I didn't know what it was when I got it more than 10 years ago but I admit I still think it has charm.

Perhaps it should be relegated to my closet of shame.

It only belongs in the closet if it's neither well crafted nor attractive.

 Can anyone tell me anything about this chess set

To paraphrase, that set @Wayne5803 deserves to go into the 'closet of shame' even if it isn't ivory.

I would venture to guess the set was made in Mexico, but the pawns appear to have roman helmets, the rooks look like Incan pyramids and the bishops appear to be Native American by wearing a cougar head and pelt upon the head.  I can't figure what the knights are.

I imagine there is someone who knows what civilization this is supposed to represent.