Is it ivory?

[petesknives]

How do I find out what it is?

[petesknives]

Or a walrus tusk. Whale tooth?

[kootenay joe]

It is ivory of some species. Looks too straight to be walrus tusk. I have not seen whale teeth.
Not sure what other species are sources for ivory.
Likely elephant ivory.
I am not knowledgeable enough to be a reliable source of information, but i enjoy posting.
kj
p.s. can you post a few more pictures with outside natural light, no flash. hard to assess with current picture

[petesknives]

There is scrimshaw on it that is of adult nature. Will take some more pics though. Thanks.

[robbobus]

Is it oosik? Walrus penile bone would make sense for adult content.

[kootenay joe]

"There is scrimshaw on it that is of adult nature"
That's o.k. with me. It is an interesting piece of ivory worthy of closer examination regardless of what someone has drawn on it.
kj

[petesknives]

KJ I'll send you pics via PM ok?

[LongBlade]

Definitely not a whales tooth... my guess elephant given the walrus tusks I’ve seen...

[kootenay joe]

Sure send me pics PM or email: [email protected]
kj

[terryl308]

Looks like hippo tooth to me, it has a habit of cracking after drying out like the one you've shown and it has the wear marks of where the two teeth mash together.. Some of the "pegs" are good ivory but the main tooth has a really hard enamel on the other shell and eats up band saw blades, trust me I know! Here is one I made back in 2012 using hippo peg ivory. Terry

[petesknives]

I think you are correct. Beautiful knife!

[petesknives]

I heard that hippos kill more people than any other animal in africa.

[petesknives]

What's the value of one of these?

[terryl308]

Hippo and wart hog ivory are about the only legal ivory now days, They both are available (Boone Trading Co.) Prices depend on how big the piece is, running $25 up to about $75. If you do a search for those ivories, you will probably find other sources also. Terry