source for hippo tusk ivory?

[KatherinePlumer]

Hey, anyone know a reputable place from which to order hippo ivory? The company I would normally order from is sold out right now and it's a little iffy as to whether the new shipment would arrive by the time I need it. My client is particularly interested in the "upper curved" tusks.

Thanks.

-Katherine

 

[Carlo]

Hey, anyone know a reputable place from which to order hippo ivory? The company I would normally order from is sold out right now and it's a little iffy as to whether the new shipment would arrive by the time I need it. My client is particularly interested in the "upper curved" tusks.

Thanks.

-Katherine

I have only one tusk but is the lower and straight one...if you need it I can ship it to you....
Or maybe you can contact www.jantzsupply.com...
Good luck
CArlo

 

[auto45lee]

You may try www.giraffebone.com Sandy McClure ph.888-804-0683


Lee Ferguson
www.fergusonknives.com

 

[John B.]

Katherine.
Have you tried Boon Trading? Or are they the one's you tried?
Best.

 

[ChrisB]

Katherine. Why Hippo Tusk? I Know The Client wants It. But My Experience with it is:
The Enamel Especially the Curved One, Is Thick!! Like Sometimes 2mm, Also it is very Brittle, will crack and Splinter Very Easily, I have 6 or 8 Large ones lying in my shop, DONT use it. Had Some Bad Experiances with them in the Past.

 

[KatherinePlumer]

Thanks for the referrals! I will pass those along. Yes, Boone is who I normally order from, but they are temporarily sold out.

Chris, I appreciate the warning about the hippo tusks, but from the info I have gathered, it seems some teeth are scrimmable and some are not (straights okay, upper curved okay on part, lower curved not okay). Without getting into the details of the project, I seek hippo ivory because it fits the need/appearance/subject. I figure if it arrives in my hands polished and ready to go (I won't do that part myself, that will need to happen before I get it) there is little chance that some delicate scrim is going to put much stress on it.

-Katherine

 

[KatherinePlumer]

I've been meaning to follow up on this for a while now, I keep forgetting to do it! I did manage to get hippo ivory by the time I needed it, from Boone Trading Co, and they did all the polishing (love them!). The first piece, a straight tooth, did in fact crack badly during the polishing. My client and I didn't care for the look of that, so we opted for a smaller curved tooth. The original plan was to wrap the image around the tooth, but this worked out better anyway.

So it came to me pre-polished on one side, I'm glad I didn't have to mess around with that. The reason that it was important that I use hippo ivory for this project was that it was a 14th anniversary gift from my client to his wife. She collects hippos, and ivory is the traditional gift of the 14th year. That is one thoughtful guy!

It scrimmed fine, didn't seem any harder or softer than most of the elephant ivory I've worked on. I had no problems, and I have a very happy client, so that's all peachy keen! :big grin:

-Katherine

 

[Bunic]

Katherine,

As always...beautiful work! AND, I learned something about hippo teeth (Tnx! Chris!)

 

[cmc306]

Good Morning All,

WOW ! Beautiful Katherine ............. Love the Hippo Tooth .You are truly blessed to be able to Scrim so elequently .
Cheryl:thumbs up: