The “Nobody’s taking a bow” portion of the April 16 In the Loop column got it partly right: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is threatening innocent Americans who possess even small amounts of ivory as part of their musical instruments.
As an antiques and fine art auctioneer, I know that this ban affects more than musicians. The FWS has recently reinterpreted the Endangered Species Act to
essentially ban the sale of all ivory, including antiques, musical instruments, canes, knives, firearms and more. Millions of people counting on the legal sale or trade of these items are at risk.
There is an “antique exemption,” but it requires an import stamp granted by the FWS only after 1982. Recently, I sold for a client a small painting done on a piece of ivory in Philadelphia in 1795. This was clearly imported hundreds of years before 1982, but it would no longer be considered “antique” because of these recent legal moves and could be seized by the government if one tried to sell or donate it.
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