Well, maybe I’m wrong, but I thought sperm whale teeth were used as ivory, too…I do know walrus is used (admittedly not whale, but marine mammilian nonetheless) and isn’t narwhale used as well like Cathy mentioned (and no, they’re not extinct unless it’s happened very, very recently…like since I typed this post).
Here’s a link on different ivory types…including sperm whale:
Maybe it was never used for flutes, but whaling was quite the industry back in the 1700s-1800s and I find it hard to believe the ivory wasn’t utilized in many ways.
Edit: Looking at that site, it looks like the only thing “ivory” whale teeth would be good for would be rings or end caps! Well, I’m obviously wrong about their utility for flutes in general, but I did know the teeth were used for scrimshaw and sold as whale ivory since my wife has a piece she bought years ago.
I was trying to hint that the spiral could be awkward to bore !
There has been discussion of whether any whale parts could ever resemble elephant ivory on the Yahoo early flute site (between Glauber’s generous contributions ) .
Andrew, no matter what, we’ve at least clarified the status of the narwhal as a still living creature which I’m sure makes all the narwhals of the world feel better about themselves.
What about unicorns, you see them on makers mark of many British made flutes from around that time, but never in the wild any more. My daughter would kill me if I told her my flute was made of a unihorn, but then again, my son would probably kill my if I told him my new flute was made of an elephant tusk.
My wife would kill me if I just told her I had a new flute.
OK, go to go watch my bidding on ebay!
Now that Eilam has opened our eyes to other sources of ivory, I wonder about those Hall crystal flutes (and the Laurent’s before them)…evidence of “faux ivory” from the Crystal People(!@%&)!%#(t…argh!
My theory almost exactly! And see, it’s even more insidious than that … they’re trying to kill off wood flutes, too because fffazzkdt aDdotku #2th$% 1475 %GH^ [TRANSMISSION GARBLED/CANNOT TRANSCRIBE]
BTW, the seller is not responding to any questions. <
Kevin Krell<
Well that about seals the deal for me…it’s obviously illegal unicorn horn and the seller is afraid to answer any questions for fear he/she will let is slip!
eBay…I love to look at it, but I’ve yet to ever buy anything there.
I used to be really happy when I won a bid.
Now, I’m really happy when I loose it, and proud if I stay away from it.
I still feel $20,000 rich for not bidding on the Crystal flute, lucky for me - you can’t hide an hacksaw blade in crystal, not even if it’s a $20K Crystal !!!
Don’t you wish the actual repairs could be done on photo-shop?
Eric - you’re asking too much, I’m talking about cracks.
But if you put your car for sale on ebay, suddenly all dents and scratches will disappear (at least till the buyer receives it).
