A cased base and ivory mounted ebony optum, probably English,…
click the photo to enlarge
A cased base and ivory mounted ebony optum, probably English, circa 1840, 28 cm high, 26 cm wide

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Ebony - Ebony is a close grained timber, black in colour. It has a fine texture which can be polished to a high gloss, making it suitable for venereering, inlay and stringing and its use as solid timber is resticted to small decorative items and ornamental decoration, such as chess pieces and musical instrument parts. The term "ebonised" means "faux ebony", timber that has been darkened during the polishing process to resemble ebony.
  • Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
  • Ivory - Ivory is a hard white material that comes from the tusks of elephants, mammoth, walrus and boar, or from the teeth of hippopotamus and whales. The ivory from the African elephant is the most prized source of ivory. Although the mammoth is extinct, tusks are still being unearthed in Russia and offered for sale.

    Ivory has been used since the earliest times as a material for sculpture of small items, both in Europe and the east, principally China and Japan.

    In Asia ivory has been carved for netsuke, seals, okimono, card cases, fan supports, animals and other figures and even as carved tusks.

    In the last 200 years in Europe ivory has been used to carve figures, for elaborate tankards, snuff boxes, cane handles, embroidery and sewing accessories, in jewellery and as inlay on furniture. Its more practical uses include being used for billiard balls, buttons, and a veneers on the top of piano keys.

    The use and trade of elephant ivory have become controversial because they have contributed to Due to the decline in elephant populations because of the trade in ivory, the Asian elephant was placed on Appendix One of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in 1975, and in January 1990, the African elephant was similarly listed. Under Appendix One, international trade in Asian or African elephant ivory between member countries is forbidden. Unlike trade in elephant tusks, trade in mammoth tusks is legal.

    Since the invention of plastics, there have been many attempts to create an artificial ivory

Visually similar items

A 19th century ebony octant by D. McGregor of Glasgow and Greenock, brass fittings, ivory scale, original case, some attention required.

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

Sterling silver chatelaine notebook & pencil, Birmingham 1911

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

Silver 1942 Shilling ring. Set with Bakelite & silver arrow, size S(9 1/4) Wt. 6.6g

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

An S. Mordan & Co. sterling silver rotating pencil, together with a sterling silver cigarette case, Birmingham, maker JR [3] and one other, silver weight 129 grms

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.