---
title: "Ivory handles, insulators and inlay: the pieces you cannot simply sell"
description: "Silver teapots with ivory insulators and ivory-handled cutlery: what the Ivory Act 2018 bans, its narrow exemptions, and why not to post such a piece."
canonical: "https://assaypost.co.uk/guides/ivory-and-the-pieces-you-cannot-sell"
published: "2026-09-21"
modified: "2026-09-24"
language: "en-GB"
publisher: "Assaypost"
---

# Ivory handles, insulators and inlay: the pieces you cannot simply sell

Written at the Assaypost bench, checked before publication. Published 21 September 2026. Updated 24 September 2026.

**The short answer:** You can keep a piece of silver with ivory in it, give it away or leave it in a will, but you usually cannot sell it. The Ivory Act 2018 has banned dealing in ivory in the UK since 6 June 2022. An item with ivory in it counts as ivory, so a silver teapot with ivory insulators or a canteen of ivory-handled knives is caught along with a carved tusk. A few narrow exemptions exist, and almost all of them need the owner to register the item or obtain a certificate before any dealing. Assaypost does not buy ivory, so please send photographs rather than post such a piece. If one arrives anyway, it comes back to you whole. This is general information, not legal advice.

## What the Ivory Act bans, and what it leaves alone

The Ivory Act 2018 prohibits dealing in ivory throughout the United Kingdom, and has applied in full since 6 June 2022. It does not ban owning ivory. It bans trade: buying, selling or hiring, offering or arranging to do any of those, keeping ivory for sale or hire, and importing or exporting it for sale or hire.

Two details catch people out. The Act counts an item that has ivory in it as ivory, so a silver teapot with two small ivory insulators is inside the ban as surely as a carved figure. And offering counts: the Act says offering includes advertising, so a listing on a selling website is dealing before anybody has paid anything.

Since 28 January 2025, ivory in the Act has meant ivory from the tusk or tooth of an elephant, a common hippopotamus, a killer whale, a narwhal or a sperm whale. GOV.UK notes that dealing in ivory from an animal outside that list, such as walrus, does not need an exemption under the Act, although other rules may apply to it.

- **Dealing**: Any of the kinds of trade listed above. GOV.UK says that swapping ivory for something of value, or for a discount, counts too.
- **Ivory**: Ivory from one of the five listed animals, and any item made of it or with it in it.
- **Integral**: Ivory that could not be removed from an item without difficulty or without damaging it. GOV.UK adds that a part which can be detached, but without which the item cannot be used in the same way, can still count as integral.
- **Registration**: The record, made through the ivory service run by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), that an item meets one of the standard exemptions. The application describes the item, shows it in photographs, explains how it qualifies and carries a fee.
- **Exemption certificate**: A certificate for an item made before 1918 that is of outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historical value, issued only after an expert assessment. GOV.UK says such an item will usually be a rare and important example of its type.

Owning ivory remains lawful, and so does passing it on without payment. GOV.UK says you can keep an item with ivory in it, give it away, leave it to someone in your will, or lend it, as long as no payment, exchange or barter is involved.

## The exemptions, and how narrow they are

The Act sets out five exceptions to the ban. Four are handled by registration; the fifth, for the rarest and most important items, needs an exemption certificate. Every condition in a row has to be met, not most of them.

**The five exceptions in the Ivory Act 2018**

| Exception | The conditions | What the owner needs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Items with low ivory content (section 7) | Made before 3 March 1947, less than 10 per cent ivory by volume, and all of the ivory integral to the item | Registration |
| Musical instruments (section 8) | Made before 1 January 1975, less than 20 per cent ivory by volume, and made primarily to be played | Registration |
| Portrait miniatures (section 6) | Made before 1 January 1918, with a surface area of no more than 320 square centimetres, not counting the frame | Registration |
| Sales to qualifying museums (section 9) | A sale to, or a purchase or hire by, a qualifying museum, which in the UK means an accredited one | Registration, except for dealing between two qualifying museums |
| The rarest and most important items (section 2) | Made before 1 January 1918 and of outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historical value | An exemption certificate, after expert assessment |

The dates carry a condition of their own. An item only counts as made before the relevant date if no ivory was added on or after that date, unless the added ivory was taken from the animal before 1975 and added to restore the item. A teapot made in 1900 whose insulators were replaced later is a different question from one with its originals.

For silver, the first row is the one people hope applies: a teapot or coffee pot with ivory insulators in the handle, a tea set with an ivory finial on a lid, a canteen of ivory-handled knives. Some may qualify and some will not, and nobody can say which from a description. GOV.UK treats a set as one item only where all its objects were made at the same time to be kept and used together. Its example is a teapot with an ivory knob that is part of a tea set. The ivory volume is then assessed across the whole set. A canteen put together over the years from odd pieces may not count as a set at all.

Age has to be shown, not assumed. GOV.UK lists evidence that can help, including a dated receipt or bill, a dated catalogue entry, an expert's opinion and a date mark on the item. A hallmark's date letter dates the silver; whether the ivory is as old as the silver around it is a separate question, for the reason above.

## Whose job it is to get this right

The Act puts the work on the owner. A registration or a certificate is applied for by the owner, or by someone acting for them with their permission, and the application has to describe the item, show it in photographs and explain how it meets the conditions. GOV.UK is plain about the hardest part: it is your responsibility to assess the item's likely ivory content by volume, even if it is difficult to be certain.

- A buyer has to check as well. GOV.UK tells anyone buying an item with ivory in it to check that it is registered or certified as exempt before taking ownership, and that the paperwork matches the item.
- A registration does not travel with the piece. GOV.UK says a registration is no longer valid once the item has been sold or hired out, so a later owner who wants to sell has to register it again. An exemption certificate is different, and stays valid while the item still meets the conditions.
- A certificate takes time. GOV.UK says assessments take approximately three months, and the item cannot be sold or hired out until the certificate has arrived.
- The offence is wider than selling. Section 12 makes it an offence to breach the ban, or to cause or facilitate a breach, where the person knows or suspects, or ought to know or suspect, that ivory is involved. On conviction on indictment the maximum sentence is five years' imprisonment, and the Act also provides for civil sanctions.

> **General information, not legal advice**
>
> Nothing on this page tells you whether a particular piece is exempt, and Assaypost cannot tell you either. The [GOV.UK guidance on dealing in ivory](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/dealing-in-items-containing-ivory-or-made-of-ivory) is the place to check, with its online eligibility checker, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency helps with registrations and applications. For advice on your own position, ask a solicitor.

## What happens if a piece with ivory in it arrives

Assaypost does not buy ivory and does not keep it, registered or not. A silver teapot with ivory insulators, a sugar bowl with an ivory finial or a knife with an ivory handle is not bought, so please do not post one: [send photographs](https://assaypost.co.uk/photo-estimate) and ask first. If one arrives anyway, because nobody knew or it was packed with everything else, this is what happens.

1. **If it is already packed or posted, leave it whole**: Do not remove insulators, handles, finials or inlay, and do not try to. If you think part of a piece in your parcel may be ivory, say so on your list or in a message, so that it is looked for when the parcel is opened.
2. **It is looked at as it stands**: The silver is examined where it is: the marks read, and the maker and date noted where they can be. The part that is or may be ivory is described, with the reason it cannot be bought, and nothing is taken apart to find out (clause 4.4 of the terms). That tells you what you have, whatever you decide next.
3. **No figure is put on it**: The Act counts an offer to buy as dealing, alongside buying itself, and Assaypost does not deal in ivory in any form. So the piece is not priced, and it is left out of any offer for the rest of your parcel.
4. **It comes back to you whole**: The piece is posted back to you, tracked, at our cost, with the ivory still attached and along with anything else you decline. Nothing is taken off it and nothing is kept.

Where a part might be ivory and cannot be told from bone or an imitation by looking, it is treated as ivory. Assaypost does not carry out certified identification of materials, and would rather send a piece back whole than guess, as [clause 7.3 of the responsible sourcing page](https://assaypost.co.uk/responsible-sourcing-and-aml#clause-7-3) says.

## Bone, celluloid, plastic and resin: what gets mistaken for ivory

Not everything a family calls ivory is ivory. Handles, insulators and finials were made from many pale materials, some precisely to look like ivory. Which you have matters, because the Act applies to ivory from the listed animals and nothing else.

- **Bone**: Used for knife handles, insulators and small fittings. It is often a little coarser than ivory, and many pieces show tiny dark flecks or pits, but polished bone can be very hard to tell from ivory by eye.
- **Celluloid**: An early plastic made to imitate ivory, sometimes sold under names such as French ivory or ivorine, and sometimes given a regular pattern of fine lines to look like grain. It turns up on dressing-table sets and cutlery handles.
- **Other plastics and resins**: Later handles and fittings in moulded plastic or cast resin, which may show mould lines, tiny bubbles or an even colour with no grain at all.
- **Walrus and other unlisted ivory**: Ivory from an animal the Act does not list. GOV.UK notes that other rules may apply to it, and telling one animal's ivory from another's is specialist work.

None of those signs is proof. Polished bone and good celluloid can deceive an experienced eye, and a firm answer can need a specialist. Anything Assaypost writes about a part records what it appears to be. It is not a certified identification, and not evidence to rely on when registering an item or selling one as not ivory.

The distinction matters both ways. If a part is plainly bone or plastic, the Act does not touch it. Assaypost leaves it in place and leaves its weight out, and takes nothing apart before you have accepted an offer (clause 4.4 of the terms). If a part is ivory, everything above applies. GOV.UK says that where the species is uncertain, APHA will assume the item contains a listed species, and section 37 of the Act presumes that material proved to be ivory comes from a listed animal unless shown otherwise.

## Seller risks and exceptions

- Assuming old means exempt. A date before 3 March 1947 is one of four conditions for the low-content exemption, not the whole test. The volume, the integral ivory and the registration all have to be there as well.
- Listing a piece before it is registered. On the Act's own wording, advertising is offering and offering is dealing, so the exemption has to be in place before the listing goes up rather than after a buyer appears.
- Calling ivory bone. Describing a part as something it is not does not take a piece outside the Act. The offence turns on whether a person knows or suspects, or ought to know or suspect, that ivory is involved.
- Replacement ivory. Insulators and handles wear out and get replaced. Ivory added on or after the relevant date counts against the exemption unless it was taken from the animal before 1975 and added to restore the item.
- Sending a piece abroad to sell. Exporting for sale is itself dealing under the Act, and GOV.UK notes that separate permits for endangered species may be needed as well.
- Taking a piece apart. Removing ivory to sell the rest can damage the piece, and what it would mean under the Act is a question for the GOV.UK guidance, not a buyer. Assaypost never asks anyone to do it.

## When not to use this route

> **If you believe a piece qualifies for an exemption**
>
> Go to GOV.UK, not to a metal buyer. Check the piece against the [GOV.UK guidance](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/dealing-in-items-containing-ivory-or-made-of-ivory) and its eligibility checker, register it or apply for a certificate if it qualifies, and then sell it to someone who deals in registered pieces. Assaypost is not that buyer, for any piece with ivory in it.

Nor is this route for a piece you would rather keep: a teapot that has been in the family for a century can stay there. This route suits the silver in the rest of your parcel, and nothing that has ivory in it.

If you are unsure whether a handle or an insulator is ivory at all, [send photographs first](https://assaypost.co.uk/photo-estimate) and ask before you post. The [tea sets and hollowware page](https://assaypost.co.uk/what-we-buy/silver-tea-sets-and-hollowware) and the [cutlery and flatware page](https://assaypost.co.uk/what-we-buy/silver-cutlery-and-flatware) cover the silver itself.

## Questions sellers ask

### Can I sell my grandmother's ivory-handled cutlery?

Only if the set meets one of the exemptions and is registered before it is offered for sale, which for cutlery normally means the low-content exemption for items made before 3 March 1947. Whether a canteen meets it depends on its date, the volume of ivory across the set and whether the ivory is integral, and that assessment is yours to make. Assaypost will not buy it either way, and you are free to keep it or give it away.

### Will Assaypost buy my silver teapot if it has ivory insulators?

No. It is not bought and it is not kept, so please do not post it: send photographs instead. If it arrives in a parcel anyway, it comes back to you with the insulators still in it, tracked, at our cost. The silver is looked at and described, so you learn what you have, but no figure is put on the piece.

### Should I take the ivory off so the silver can be sold?

No, and please do not. Removing insulators or handles can damage the piece and can take value off it for good, and Assaypost never asks anyone to take anything off. Keep it whole, and send photographs first if you are unsure what a part is made of.

### Is it illegal to own ivory?

No. The Act bans dealing, not ownership. GOV.UK says you can keep an item with ivory in it, give it away, leave it in your will or lend it, as long as no payment, exchange or barter is involved.

### My teapot was made before 1947. Is it automatically exempt?

No. The date is only one condition. For the low-content exemption the ivory must also be less than 10 per cent of the item by volume, all of it must be integral, and the item must be registered before any dealing. Replaced insulators can change the answer too.

### How can I tell whether it is ivory or bone?

Not reliably by eye, and a quick look from anyone else will not settle it either. Bone often shows tiny dark flecks, and imitations such as celluloid can show very regular lines, but none of those signs is proof. If it matters to what you do next, ask a specialist, and use the GOV.UK guidance for the legal side.

## Sources

1. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 1: prohibition on dealing in ivory](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/1) (accessed 21 September 2026)
2. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 2: pre-1918 items of outstanding artistic etc value and importance](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/2) (accessed 21 September 2026)
3. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 6: pre-1918 portrait miniatures](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/6) (accessed 21 September 2026)
4. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 7: pre-1947 items with low ivory content](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/7) (accessed 21 September 2026)
5. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 8: pre-1975 musical instruments](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/8) (accessed 21 September 2026)
6. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 9: acquisitions by qualifying museums](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/9) (accessed 21 September 2026)
7. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 10: registration](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/10) (accessed 21 September 2026)
8. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 12: offence of breaching the prohibition or causing or facilitating a breach](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/12) (accessed 21 September 2026)
9. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 37: meaning of ivory (as amended from 28 January 2025 by S.I. 2025/9)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/37) (accessed 21 September 2026)
10. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 38: meaning of other expressions, including pre-1918, pre-1947 and pre-1975](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/38) (accessed 21 September 2026)
11. [legislation.gov.uk — Ivory Act 2018, section 42: extent](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/section/42) (accessed 21 September 2026)
12. [legislation.gov.uk — The Ivory Act 2018 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2022, regulation 2](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/288/regulation/2/made) (accessed 21 September 2026)
13. [GOV.UK — Deal in items made of or containing ivory](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/dealing-in-items-containing-ivory-or-made-of-ivory) (accessed 21 September 2026)
14. [GOV.UK — Buy or hire ivory items](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buy-or-hire-an-ivory-item) (accessed 21 September 2026)

## Related

- [Responsible sourcing and AML](https://assaypost.co.uk/responsible-sourcing-and-aml)
- [Silver hollowware](https://assaypost.co.uk/what-we-buy/silver-tea-sets-and-hollowware)
- [Silver cutlery](https://assaypost.co.uk/what-we-buy/silver-cutlery-and-flatware)
- [Antique silver or scrap silver, and how to tell the difference](https://assaypost.co.uk/guides/silverware-antique-or-scrap)
- [Stones, clasps and the parts of a piece that are not metal](https://assaypost.co.uk/guides/stones-clasps-and-what-is-not-metal)
- [Declining an offer and getting your items back](https://assaypost.co.uk/guides/declined-offers-and-returns)
- [Send photos first](https://assaypost.co.uk/photo-estimate)

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- [Send a photo on WhatsApp](https://wa.me/447369296063?text=Hello.%20I've%20been%20reading%20your%20guides%20and%20I've%20got%20some%20pieces%20I%20can't%20identify.%20Sending%20photos%20now.)
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