Antique Pre-ban ivory chess set

I have an antique pre ban ivory chess set.  It is very cool and in great shape. I am considering selling it, and I'm not exactly sure how to go about that.  I know ebay is an option.  Any info on where to sell or this items value would be much appereciated.  

Very cool set! You might be able to sell it on chess.com. I wouldn't really know.

Is it ironic that the rook is an elephant?

Selling ivory chess pieces is prohibited on eBay.

It is?

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/wildlife.html

I'm not really sure about the rook.  

I've seen others like it sell on ebay, as long as it's pre-ban you can sell it there.

I guess I'll see if anyone on chess.com is interested, if not I'll put it on ebay.  Is there a forum or section for selling sets on chess.com?

Did you ever sell this? If so, where did you sell it at? I would be interested in getting one.

Mammoth ivory is still legal to trade and use.

Those pieces look fragile.

Whatever you do, don't use those highly collectible pieces if you're forced to play against an idiot.

I have a Capablanca Boxwood/Ebony set that I use on a 2'x2' custom designed board made of Bird's Eye Maple, Cocobola, Paduok, and Ebony. I won the game, of course, and the idiot took his checkmated king and thumped it HARD, whereupon it fell and almost cracked against the board.

Wow, looks marvelous!  Like one of the sets in this-here gem of a book:

I have a very similar chess set made entirely of ivory, but the opponent is stained brown.  Hand carved and incredibly detailed.  I, too, am interested in selling mine.  I did take it to an antique dealer who only sells Chinese/Asian artifacts and he appraised it around 5K, but wanted a rediculous commission to sell it at his store, something likke 20%.  So, I would rather sell it direct on a forum like this.  

Let me know if someone wants pics.  I will personally hand deliver it if you are a serious buyer.  Thanks

A thousand dollars is not ridiculous. I don't think it will sell on chess.com

For Sale

One well carved ivory chess set with pieces screwed into puzzle ball bases. Half are white, and the other half stained brown. 3 3/4" tall pawns, 4 1/2" tall rooks with flags and elephants, 3 3/4" tall standing bishops, 4 1/4" tall knights on horseback, 6" tall queen, 7 1/2" tall king. All in wood case with board on outside of box. Ca. 1900 or later, Chinese carved. Good Condition. King missing half his spear, but all other parts intact and delicately carved.

Fair Market Value appraised in 2005: $4,500 
This is a must have for a serious Chinese antique art collector or ivory chess set collector. 


Professionally Appraised on Feb. 9th, 2005 by Michael Banks, Member of New England Appraisers Association, at West End Antiques in Wilmette, IL.



SERIOUS BUYERS ONLY. I WILL HAND DELIVER THIS ITEM IF WITHIN REASONABLE DISTANCE FROM CHICAGO OR PICK UP.

Pics are available at request. Pics include chess set photos, wood board (folded in half), metal locking mechanism, White and Brown King, and appraisal letter which will be included with this set. 

Absolutely! A 20% commission for something that requires a very select audience is hardly exhorbitant, since trying to sell it through private party you may not get half what a well connected dealer can get for it.

This actually looks 20th century to me. It might be an antique but I don't think you'll be able to prove that well enough to get a Cites licence. It's a common misconception that anything that's "pre-ban" is ok to trade. You have to be able to prove it's more than 100 years old to be classified as antique and legal to trade. I don't think this is 100 years by looking at it. You may have to keep it in the country. Anyway as has been said you can't sell any ivory on eBay anymore. If you really want to a lot of people sell this kind of set there by labelling it "ox bone" or "faux ivory" and show good enough closup pictures to show it's ivory, like the grain on the bottom of a piece for instance. That might be your best bet if you haven't sold it yet, but I do see a lot of these on eBay that don't go anywhere near your appraised value. A dealer would get you more but you might have to wait a long time till it sells.

I have the same set I am looking to sell. I will be honest, I have no clue what it's worth. Were you able to sell your set?

I am fairly certin that it was the bishop that is the elephent. When the game originated in India the pieces were based around the four different parts of the Indian army: chariots, cavalry, elephants, and infantry. The “bishop” piece was referred to as the elephant.

The Bishop was originally an elephant with a different move and a much weaker piece than the modern Bishop, however over the years the pieces changed quite a bit and now it's not uncommon to see elephant-shaped rooks, as in this set, where, as stated above, the elephants are the rooks. I believe in some parts of India there way still be modern sets with elephant Bishops, but all of the modern Indian sets I see with elephants have them for the rooks and camels for the Bishops. The only modern elephant Bishops I see these days come out of Turkey.