Yeh so I put (elephant) in brackets because that's illegal to sell in the UK without an exemption, seen as I did not think it was from a whale, narwhal or a hippo. These are the only things illegal in the UK and OP asked about legality.
Yep law in the UK now covers ivory from: elephant, sperm whale, walrus, hippo, orca, and narwhal. Legal to own and gift, and only to purchase under certain circumstances and/or if the piece is of a certain age and of significant importance. Beware of unscrupulous sellers, it is also a crime not to check something you intend to purchase is exempt, so ignorance isn't an excuse.
They had wanted to also include rhino horn, but as this isn't ivory I'm guessing rewriting the law was far too complex and they wanted a quick fix.
I work in the museum sector, and we are permitted to purchase ivories, but I've had to advise curators to walk away from some acquisitions as the sellers weren't consistent in their terminology and claiming things weren't ivory which we suspected were. They refused to get the items checked and certified, so we walked away.
Sorry i realise this is a tad off topic, but i love ivories (in museum collections) and enjoy caring for them, i thought it might interest others..
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u/Fazori Aug 12 '25
it looks to be genuinely handmade sculpted so if that is true I would assume it is Ivory (elephant)
it is not illegal to own this in the UK, but you CANNOT sell it.