Canadian Ivory Inc.

What we offer for sale

Walrus ivory is available through Canadian Ivory as whole tusks or pieces of varying sizes and shapes. We offer ivory for the carver, knife maker, jeweler, scrimshander, furniture maker and wood worker in either a natural or polished finish. Then there are just as many who appreciate the tusk itself as a natural art form without any processing. Whatever the need, there is a wide selection of this material available.

As the seasons allow, we can also supply narwhal tusk whole or by the piece, walrus, narwhal and polar bear skulls and walrus oosik (walrus baculum or penis bone,) muskox horns, whale baleen, teeth and vertebrae.  Newly added is Ivory Art.

We guarantee these materials. If your order does not meet your expectations, return it right away and we will refund the purchase price. All you're out is the shipping charges.

 For sales or pricing info, contact us at info@canadianivory.com

Walrus Tusks - Odobenus rosmarus

Tusks are formed on both the male and female walrus. The males tend to produce heavier set, more impressive tusks than the females. Their size lends them to larger sculptures and applications where larger piece size is an issue. A common size for males is 1.0 - 1.4 kg (2 to 3 lbs) with a length of 40 cm (16”) and a base cross section of 3 by 6 cm (1.25 by 2.5”). The female tusks are more slender and have less taper going from the base to the tip. Typically the length of female tusks is similar to a male but the base is more round than oval, say 4 cm (1.5”) diameter, and the weight runs 0.5 to 1.0 kg (1 to 2 lbs.)

Narwhal Tusk - Monodon monoceros

Non-toothed whales have a number of baleen plates arranged as overlapping shingles. Along one edge hairs act as a sieve with which to extract food from the water. The plates are tapered from approximately 20 cm wide (8") and 1 cm thick (1/2") to a point and are up to 3 m (9 or 10') in length. The baleen also taper from the top to the bottom edge along the length.

The source of baleen is intermittent. Some northern communities are given a rare licence by Federal authorities to harvest a whale. Occasionally there is natural mortality found.

Baleen has a streaked dark grey coating over a jet black interior. Once used as stays in ladies' corsets of Victorian times, it was regarded as nature's plastic because there is some elasticity to thin pieces. It is used today in carvings or as accent pieces in carvings and also reverse scrimshaw (white on black). Baleen will take a high gloss with polishing.

It is regarded as Appendix 1 in CITES and is available in Canada only.

Whale Vertebrae

As you might expect from a 20m bowhead whale, these vertebrae are very large and heavy. They originated from Canada's Arctic. These have been used for carving or display. A chiropractor's dream. These vertebrae are CITES Appendix I. Available in Canada only.

Whale Teeth - Physeter macrocephallus

A limited number of whale teeth is available. These teeth have a long history for carving, scrimshanding and collecting. These teeth are CITES Appendix I and international trade is not possible. They were obtained in the 1970's, prior to trade bans being put in place. Available in Canada only.

Mammoth Tusk

Small amounts available for small crafts such as jewelry and carving. Nut colour outside with cream colour inside. Well cured. No permits required.

Ivory Art

Please contact us for current stock of hand made ivory artwork:

Working with Tusks

Regulations

The walrus and narwhal are primarily hunted for their meat by the Inuit of northern Canada. This hunt is regulated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and pilot projects are providing more local autonomy. The tusks provide a secondary resource and source of cash and are not the primary objective of the hunt. The tusks have historical significance in providing the medium for the creation of implements, toys and religious objects. Trade in this ivory and its ownership is legal within Canada. 

International trade of the tusks is possible and controlled by permit under the auspices of the ‘Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora’ (CITES). By international agreement, Canada can issue a CITES Export Permit which will be recognized by those other countries which allow such imports.  

The normal permit process commences with an application to Canadian CITES authorities for an Export Permit. When issued, that permit is faxed or emailed to the customer in order that an application can be made to the CITES authorities of the importing country for a CITES Import Permit. When the Import Permit is issued we can ship.

Notably the United States restricts imports of walrus and narwhal. We cannot ship to the United States. However mammoth tusk and muskox horn shipments to the U.S. have gone smoothly to date. No permits needed.

International trade of ivories has been managed through CITES through the 1970’s and 1980’s and for some such as with the elephant, international trade was halted from 1989. Since then trade of ivories already within a given country has been generally permitted, but with limits to fresh material and with thus a diminishing supply artisans and collectors have had to look to other non-endangered sources of ivory such as offered here. 

Ordering these Materials

If you’d like to order or for inquiries about pricing on any of these materials, please call or write:

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