Seeking valuation / selling of Chinese Ivory set
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Hm... looks pretty real to me, though I think this is the kind of set that is sometimes faked. You should probably take this to an appraiser. It's a lot harder to sell ivory these days but if you can prove it's 100 years old (and idk, this one might be I don't know much about this kind of set) you have a chance.
Thank you Tmkroll
Doubtful that its ivory. The inked artwork looks amateurish and hastily applied. Not the artistry or quality that you would expect to see in an ivory set produced by an artisan. The closeup photo of the White "King" it looks more like plastic to me....
That's certainly possible but they don't fake to me. You can put a picture of the bottom of a piece in good light and then it should be pretty easy to tell, but you will need an expert opinion anyway if they are. Also you could even do a hot needle test if you want to do it yourself unless you think it actually is plastic.
I did the hot needle test; the hot needle did nothing. No melting, no marks...nothing. I also learned from my parents that they purchased this set at an auction house in Portland, OR back in 1978. It was auctioned as an antique ivory chess set and they win the bid at $420.00 at the time. Looking closely at the King photo, note the “EP,” which I’m guessing to be acsignature?
I’m in the Vancouver, BC area. Who might I turn to for such an appraisal?
Yeah, that seems right, it's just it still might not be old enough to be considered an antique, in which case wait, you're in Canada. This does not apply to you https://www.fws.gov/international/travel-and-trade/ivory-ban-questions-and-answers.html See if you can find the Canadian Version.