Posted on 06/07/2014 8:44:33 AM PDT by Bratch
An heirloom bronze elephant with ivory tusks, great-grandmother's piano with ivory keys, a vintage ivory chess set or an antique silver teapot with a small ivory inset in the handle to keep it cool may be "endangered" by proposed laws that could be in place sometime in June. Buying, selling or importing ivory from recently killed African elephants already is illegal and has been for about 25 years.
But an executive order issued by President Barack Obama would extend the ban to include all antique ivory harvested from elephants that died before 1914. There would be a law forbidding sales, even gifts to museums, of any ivory, including antique pieces. This affects antiques dealers and collectors, knife makers and collectors, Inuit craftsmen, owners of mahjong and chess sets, and manufacturers of musical instruments, including guitars and violins — the list could go on. And those in favor of strong endangered species laws want to also insist that all confiscated antique carved ivory art be destroyed — not even given to a museum.
Already thousands of pounds of ivory art objects have been destroyed. This will cause huge losses to companies, collectors and museums. Express your opinion in this controversy.
There's still time to contact your U.S. senator, representative or the Fish & Wildlife Service to make your thoughts known. For links to more detailed information, go to www.kovels.com/latest-news/new-ivory-ban.html.
(Excerpt) Read more at journalnow.com ...
I think this would be fairer (and in line with the tone of the Constitution) but shoot, if you can presume to shut down coal plants, buying up all the ivory to throw it away would be nothing.
I'm not a troll from the DUmpster Underground so I assumed my post didn't need a sarcasm tag.
I.e. being funny.
Look we don’t all have to be as grim as a nightmare of a black cat in a coal chute at night!
That's true.But it sounded like a serious question so I gave a serious reply.But they *do* say that it takes more muscles to frown than it takes to laugh.
Not to mention all the artifacts owned by museums.
In the late 50s my grandmother purchased an ivory chess set in Hong Kong, each piece beautifully carved with the opposing pieces stained sienna. It’s a family treasure and the gubmint can’t have it.
First...I assume that you know that the line I was referring to was one of Groucho's.Second,the only law firm I recall from the Stooges was "Goldman,Goldstein,Goldberg and O'Brien".And the guy answering the phone,who had a Yiddish/Hebrew accent,said at the end of his greeting...in that Yiddish accent..."O'Brien speaking".Funny stuff!
You cannot sell them, trade them or donate them to museums. The next step is that people will be reluctant to display them for fear of being accused of participating in some sort of illegal or at least, socially forbidden activity.
I have ivory artifacts. I will hang on to them. I will bequeath them to those who understand such things and hopefully, at some point in the future this will all subside, the amount of such items will have been decreased sufficiently that he old items will again have value by virtue of rarity.
This is just more feel-good-ism in the name of stopping something a few individuals deem bad. I will not be surprised when this regulation is extended to ebony, rosewood, mahogany,etc. I believe this has already been an issue with inlays on musical instruments. Then it will be all animal skins or even bone. At some point, perhaps all crystals or mineral specimens will be prohibited.
Where does this end?
Sorry.
It’s Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga and McCormick. /pedantism
If you REALLY want to stop the poachers, make ivory legal, people will set up elephant ranches where they will raise elephants for their ivory (tranquilize the elephant, take the ivory, and let him grow more).
As a bonus, the country can issue poacher hunting licenses. There are people in the world who would pay money for that.
Exactly, H*ll hath no fury like a Museum curator.
It is totally unenforceable.....Wrap up, lock away, keep quiet.
It is Cultural historical destruction, nothing more.
Boating accidents will become even more common. :)
I have a sterling chocolate set from the mid-1800s with an ivory heat protector on the handle. It was used to protect fingers from the hot contents. Since it is post-late 1700s, it would be illegal, even though it is a legitimate antique.
You know what?
It's long past time that we simply ignore this petulant asshole child.
Let him order, we shall ignore. And if we are arrested for an illegal order, we shall resist. And if we are prosecuted and imprisoned, we shall exact revenge.
Period. End of sentence. F*** you, Mr. Obama.
Your guess is as good as mine.
Just put things where the Grand kids can’t see them....Sad.
While I agree with you wholeheartedly, the fact remains that no auction house will accept such items, no online sites will allow them listed, no museums will accept new donations, people will be intimidated via peer pressure from displaying/wearing them and they will be effectively eliminated.
I have Papuan masks which incorporate human hair. I personally collected them 40 years ago. I had to declare and show them to Customs when I came back to the States. At some point, I expect them to be considered unsellable and unacceptable for donation, let alone allowable into the country.
I do display all my treasures, so far. But the world is so full of nannies, I am reconsidering my attitude.
Yup,you're right.But you left out a Hungadunga.And the most important one too! ;-)
They'll give piano tuners a bounty for everyone they turn in. That extra home insurance art rider will be another bounty when your insurance agent turns in the paperwork. Your neighbor could also collect a check when they turn you in for grandma's piano, grandpa's pipe, great-aunt's hair pins and desk set. The neighbor will get extra brownie points ratting you out for having too many cans of peas in the pantry and weapons in the back of the closet.
Stupid federal overreach. If you want elephants to flourish, make the harvesting of ivory legal and give the natives incentives for managing herds and punishing (killing) poachers.
Don’t worry. Enforcement will only apply to peasants.
Flash-bang grenades: They're "For The Children"...
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