Chinese Carved Elephant Tusk, ca. 1940

Appraised on: June 12, 2010

Appraised in: San Diego, California

Appraised by: Frank Castle

Category: Asian Arts

Episode Info: Junk in the Trunk (#1519)

Originally Aired: November 7, 2011

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (1:02)

GUEST: We call her our tooth fairy because we think she's a tusk. We were told she was an elephant tusk. We've loved her, but now we really love her more because we have a Chinese granddaughter, and she'll go to her someday. My husband's father did some business with a man who did business in China, and this man owed my father-in-law some money, and to pay that money back, one of the gifts was this one. We really don't know a lot about her, but we think she's beautiful.

APPRAISER: Well, she is beautiful, and it's a wonderful piece of work. It's at the height of the Chinese carving of these type of pieces, done probably between the 1930s and 1950s. Really, really top quality. Beautiful work, the flower maiden in this depiction. And the base also is lovely. Unusual carving at the base of the tusk. And this is, as you point out, a solid piece of ivory, a solid elephant tusk. Much, much larger than what we see. We at the table believe that this should have an appraisal value between $20,000 and $25,000 for insurance.

GUEST: Wow.