This is a first and there won't be a lot of these either, the real McCoy...elly tusk and this is the business end of it...that section that lifts the truck, and that is used to do trenching in the hard Bushveld ground!
Ivory has been a very controversial topic for decades, in early colonial times elly's were culled left, right and centre for their trophy ivory, but that era has long since passed. There is still a lot of poaching going on, but most of these criminals are now focusing on Rhino horn, which has a much higher value per kg and is easier to hide and transport. Very few people know that elephants have actually become overpopulated in some parks, and because they have no natural enemies they can destroy an entire habitat for all other animals, basically eliminating the intention of conservation in its totality! There will never be an agreed method on how to handle overcrowding, but it is clear that population management has to be part of the solution. Whatever the solution may be, it will need to be scientific and moral, the latter being the harder part to navigate and agree upon.
This is not where we got this piece, locally we are still able to 'trade' in vintage ivory, so we have been visiting antique shops and scanning the classifieds for vintage ivory items but they are not easy to find, and you could loose a chunk of cash if you do not know what you are looking for. Buying and selling the little vintage ivory that is left seems as easy as buying a vintage teacup, and sometimes it is. There is a lot of discresion that goes with each trade, but buying old, already carved pieces seems to be a pretty good way to go about it, some of these pieces do not have any appeal anymore (more so those with cracks), but they remain a very scare commodity, so we figured why not upcycle it into something that is desirable and functional!
If you want to read up some more on the local trading of ivory items you can have a look at this page, but I can already tell you there are a few 'myths' that I have identified in the information when working with the material.
It is one-of-a-kind-stuff, that is for sure. For this one we have opted to keep the piece as natural as possible working with 'the breakage' and its profile as is, the natural elements in this brush says it all.....ain't another like me!
It actually fits on a stand, and who knows, maybe we can make the new owner a razor handle and stand that suits the brush, let us know and we will keep our eyes peeled for suitable pieces that can be upcycled. The tusk is fitted with a 26 mm SHD Finest two band knot in a fan shape.