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Hello , how old could this teapot be? Can anyone tell me about it?

Thanks ,

John

Your teapot appears to be made out of elephant ivory. Looks like a western tourist ware, so probably made in Hong Kong anywhere from 1950s to 1980s.

I am not sure how you arrived at "elephant ivory". From the pictures, the material of the pot looks like stoneware to me.

I am not even sure why would "tourist ware" be made from ivory, even in HK in the 50s or 60s.

I can tell it is ivory by the shape, construction, and the grain present in the handle. Ivory was booming in the tourist trade from the 1950s through 1980s when CITIES banned international ivory trading. Ivory trinkets were very popular in the Hong Kong tourist trade and is still very popular though it cannot now be exported.

Are you saying that the entire pot or only the handle is made of ivory? It is amazing that one can tell ivory simply from shape and construction of anything. As for "grain", I cannot seem to be able to make out ivory grains in any of the 3 pictures. Perhaps you have a much superior computer screen or eyesight.

It would be much better if John who posted this item here to tell us whether it is ivory. He did not mention it in his question.

I can see the Schreger lines clearly in the handle in pictures 1 and 3 as well as on the base in picture. Celluloid mimics the ivory grain, but it has never been well done. This is a common construction for tourist trade ivory pieces. It is made of multiple pieces of ivory glue together. The finial of the frog on the lid shows some cemetum from the outside of the tusk and has dark vertical lines from where dirt got into cracks in the tusk while the elephant was alive and were incorporated into the ivory as the tusk grew. It also appears to have some kind of damage from improper storage or contact with glue, possibly when they glued it together. I included an example very similar that is made out of ivory that sold 2012. It was advertised as 19th Century, but I think the auctioneer was fooled by the artificial patina.

Bokaba, thank you very much for educating me on such objects. I have learnt something new today. By the way, how much did this teapot sell for in 2012? It looks remarkably like the one John posted? Could they be the same piece?

I think the teapot I posted sold in the $300-$500 range. If it really were 19th Century as advertised, it would have probably sold for $2000-$3000. Ivory prices have plummeted in the last year or so due to new state and federal regulations that virtually outlaw the sale of ivory in any venue. I would think such a teapot is worth about $100 or less today if it is located in a state where ivory can be sold such as Florida. Otherwise, it is worthless.

Hello , The teapot is Ivory. It sold at auction in 2012 for $375 + 19% buyers premium.

URL Title :Link to the 2012 auction

I have attached responses regarding it's age from an antique forum.

URL Title :Info from another forum.

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