Little ivory gods are good to keep or give
Q I inherited a small collection of ivory figurines that were purchased in China in 1947 or ’48. My understanding is that these items cannot be sold, but do you know where, in the San Francisco Bay Area, we might be able to donate them? A Laws regulating the sale of ivory have evolved over the past few decades. In July 2016, President Obama signed a federal law banning the sale of African ivory. This ban was intended to both protect elephants and eliminate the huge underground market for poachers.
California laws are even stricter. California Fish and Game Code’s section 2022 outlines the ban and exceptions. The bill, signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, took effect in July 2016. It details that the following items may no longer be purchased, sold or possessed with intent to sell: rhino horns and teeth and tusks of elephants, hippos, mammoths, mastodons, walruses, warthogs, whales and narwhals.
The expansive list of animals involved in the prohibition prevents traffickers from deceitfully advertising prohibited elephant ivory as coming from another species.
Owning your ivory figures is perfectly legal, and so is giving them as a gift.
For clarification, I spoke with Lt. Chris Stoots of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who confirmed that nothing in the law prohibits the possession or transport of ivory, as long as there is no monetary exchange or commercial transaction.
The law has exceptions: They include an ivory or rhino horn that is part of a “bona fide antique” with historical documentation and where the ivory comprises less than 5 percent of the volume of the piece. (For example, a 100-year-old silver tea set with ivory insulators can be sold.)
Also allowed is the ivory or horn as part of a musical instrument (fiddle bow, piano keys), provided the ivory is less than 20 percent of the volume of the piece and the piece can be documented as having been made prior to 1975. For the full text of the law, go to California Fish and Game Code section 2022 (a).
So what to do with your ivory?
You can surrender it to Fish and Game, where it may be used for educational and training purposes. They also may use it in their forensic lab to establish a database of ivory types. (Ivory, like gemstones, has distinctive patterns of lines. By measuring the angles of these lines, researchers can differentiate between elephant, mammoth or bone.)
You can also give it as a gift. You can donate it for educational purposes. You cannot take a tax deduction for the donation — remember, if ivory cannot be sold, it has no monetary value.
Your figures are a full set of Seven Lucky Gods. These Japanese deities are derived from figures in different cultures and religions — Buddhism, Taoism and Shintoism. But as a group, they are thought to bestow prosperity, luck, longevity, contentment and safety.
From left to right, they are Jurojin, Daikoku, Fukorokujo, Hotei, Benten, Ebisu and Bishamon. (In my May 21 column, I’ll explain who is who, their attributes and their apotropaic functions.)