I got an amazing gift. Walrus mount!

Brian Ayres

Brian Ayres

Joined
Feb 4, 2011
Messages
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I am a service plumber. I was working in a large house, 7,000+ sq ft and saw this bad boy sitting in the corner of the basement.

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I asked the homeowner if it was for sale. She said " Oh My God!!! Someone actually WANTS that UGLY thing????? :eek:"

I said "Why yes, I think it's beautiful! What do you want for it :biggrin: ??"

She said, "PLEASE, TAKE IT AWAY!!! It's been in the Goodwill pile twice, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it since it was my dads!"

I twice more asked if I could buy it. She assured me it wasn't for sale..and I happily brought Wally home.

I have had 4 people who know ivory give two different opinions. Two have said it's ancient ivory that was scrimmed, and two say it's old ivory, 1972ish and it was treated to look ancient.

So, either way I imagine I'll just have Wally decorate my shop. He's a good looking fellow.

I spent about 8 hours searching for the artist that did the scrim, Elia Abruska, to research CITES, and to hopefully nail the date based on the artist's name, but had no luck.

It appears to be ancient ivory, but I think it was boiled/processed? It came out of Alaska in either the late 60's, or more likely just after '72 as it has rudimentary scrimshaw and is signed on both tusks. That was usually done after '72.

The homeowner's father owned a large maritime co that operated in the sixties there so it's possible it's pre '72. Even if it's not usable for handles, it's for sure valuable and cool looking... 21" and 21-1/2" tusks when pulled from the sockets....

When I get my shop set up again I'll make her a nice kitchen knife as a thank you and surprise her with it....
 
The CITES rules on walrus tusk mainly concern the importing and exporting of walrus ivory. Using it for handles once it is in the United States isn't really an issue. I have spoken to the Federal and Virginia state authorities when this came up before, and unless you live in Alaska, where the state law enforcement people have tougher requirements than the feds do, the ivory you have can be cut up and used for knives made by you without any problems. You can sell these knives legally,too.

The piece appears to be of an aged condition and scrimmed so it should meet the requirement of being " presumed to be legal". Keep the photos of the mount and the info on how you obtained it, and you have no worry. Once cut up it is all moot, as the ivory is unprovable one way or the other in that state. The only legal issue you will need to remember is that you can't sell a walrus handled knife or any of the ivory to anyone outside the US.
 
I don't think you ought to cut it up. Something like that might be worth a pretty penny to a collector.
 
Wow Brian, Nice score!!
It's always better to ask about something and be told no than to not ask and be kicking yourself later.
I got about 24 square feet of 1/4" natural micarta for free the other day, they were just gonna throw it away!! :eek:
 
Nice score Brian! There is a recent article in Knife World that surprised me about Ivory, Stag, Bone etc being confiscated in CA (Regardless of Papers). Just an FYI since you are close...
 
Well carved/scriimed skull mounts can indeed be valuable. This one looks like it was minimally scrimmed to meet the Alaskan Art requirements for selling it and transporting out of Alaska.
 
Beautiful! Nice score. Even if it is "new" ivory, it is still valuable. I would not cut it up for ANY reason. Tusks this size are not easy to come by. Great collector piece.
 
Thanks guys!

I plan on keeping Wally as is.

I honestly don't have the skills to justify using a piece of ivory now anyways.:o

I figure by the time I have a few more knives under my belt I'll just buy some ivory from a friend who has drawers full of it. :D

Honestly, even after hours of research I'm still confused as to whether I could cut it up and use it if I chose to.

I'd welcome any further elaboration on why it would be legal to use it for handles and subsequently sell the knives.

Yes, the scrim is both minimal, and rudimentary. But it still makes the piece that much neater! :D
 
Brian who told you it was treated to look old.LOL. I stand by what I told you and think you should talk to Dan Westlind or Mark Knapp if you have any doubt.These men have handled literaly many tons of both fossil and antique ivory. Theye know the laws very well.Rest assured they will set you straight and you wont have to get 10 different answers form 10 different pepole. LOL. Some of the stuff I have herd already in this thread make me shake my head and could get a guy in trouble.
Call me if you want Dans number.

Brett Mathews

Brett Mathews
 
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