IVORY

Victorian Era hand carved ivory coiled snake bangle bracelet

Species:  Ivory
​​Mohs Hardness:  3 out of 10
Color:  Translucent to opaque white to light yellow.
RI:  1.535 to 1.540 (usually 1.540)
Birefringence:  None
SR/DR/AGG:  AGG
Fluorescence:  Weak to strong bluish white or violet-blue under LW & SW (stronger under LW).
SG:  1.70 to 2.00

Ivory Facts

The Schreger Pattern is visible on this ivory carving

Ivory is a hard, white, organic material made from the bones and teeth of animals.

Ivory is most commonly obtained from elephant tusks, although it is also derived from mammoth, warthog, walrus, whale, hippopotamus, and narwhal.

Due to the value of ivory, man began hunting elephants for their tusks, causing a rapid decrease in elephant population, specifically in South Africa and Asia.

While lawful possession of ivory is not prohibited, a near-total ban on the commercial trade of African elephant ivory took effect in the United States in 2016.  This measure aimed to safeguard African and Asian elephants from illegal poaching for their ivory and prevent their eventual extinction.  These restrictions do not apply to mammoth tusk ivory, as it comes from extinct mammoths and is not sourced from contemporary elephants.

The Schreger Pattern is a system of intersecting concave and convex lines found in natural ivory.  These wavy structure lines can form a crosshatch pattern from certain angles.

Ivory Gallery

All photos courtesy of Scott Papper, GIA GG, AJP, CMA (NAJA)