That's yer relephant

[Jeff Root]

My great uncle acquired this end table (http://www.freemars.org/jeff/misc/table.jpg) in the 1950's, probably in
Africa, but possibly in Asia, while serving in the US Merchant Marine.
I'd like to know two things:

What country is it most likely from?

How can I get a replacement bit of ivory for the other tusk, which
has been lost? The tusk in the photo is 43 mm long and 5.5 mm in
diameter at its widest.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

[AndrewJ]

Your uncle bought it from an old Kikuyu in Mombassa. Actually, that was a bit of a guess.

I would leave the missing tusk as a symbolic reminder of the effect of the ivory trade. Either that or yank out the other tusk and claim the elephant is a baby (calf?).

[01101001]

Appears to sell small blocks of legal pre-ban ivory, suitable for turning, like 1/4 inch by 2 inch. You could probably just chuck that in a drill bit and round it with sandpaper, if you don't have a lathe.

ivory buyer dot com / sales

It's probably expensive. And maybe it's morally ambiguous. Alternate materials like warthog or walrus tusk might work. Even tagua nut (Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytelephas)) might work. My local exotic wood store carries it. It might honor the elephant more.

[novaderrik]

cool elephant- i've got a pair of hand carved elephants that i was told my dad got while he was stationed in Thailand during the Vietnam war in about '68 or so. my dad died in 1984 so i can't verify that, but i've had this pair of elephants sitting to either side of my tv since i moved out on my own back in '94. the other one is sort of a mirror image to this one, with the head and trunk pointing the opposite direction and the left feet forward instead of the right feet.
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs085.snc1/5042_220191160440_632495440_7531286_6182373_n.jpg

i've also got a hand carved cane in the shape of a cobra hiding around here somewhere..

[JohnD]

I'd say that's an Asian elephant, by the size and shape of the ear.
See: http://www.ehow.com/how_4579050_difference-between-african-indian-elephants.html
At its simplest, an Asian elephant has an ear like India, and an African elephant has an ear like Africa (Right ear, of course).
But that doesn't narrow it down very much, as India, and all the Asian countries to the East, barring Japan and New Guinea, have native elephants.

[jja]

Since the tusk is small, vegetable ivory (tagua nuts) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytelephas) may work as a replacement. If you're up to carving a replacement yourself, you can order tagua nuts on eBay. Otherwise, you may be able to find jewelry carved as a tusk, or commission the same.

[chrissy]

It looks a bit like Teak, I would have suggested Africa, but it looks more like it is from India.

[KaiYeves]

The ear makes it look like it's an Indian elephant.

[mahesh]

The ear makes it look like it's an Indian elephant.

yah...and the two bulges on its head....emphasise further as Indian.

So then, being of Indian origin, for a truly 'vegetarian' replacement, you could follow up on jja's suggestion and use tagua nuts....
followed by another 'tusk'.....nice pizza party...root of all fun!

[PraedSt]

That elephant looks really cross. What have you been doing to him? :)

[mahesh]

yeah....i thought so too! but zipped it.

[Jeff Root]

I didn't notice that the elephant looks angry until I saw the photo. It must
be the light and shadow around his eye that makes him look that way.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis