WhatFinger


Ivory Keys, Pianos, Ivory Supply, Ivory Carvings, Poaching

Cherish the Keys!



Pianos are available, often for free, almost everywhere - as long as you are willing to pay for moving the beast.
Well, there is a new wrinkle to your piano that you may not have been aware of, but first some observations from my personal experience.

Student Times

When I moved to the big city to study at the university there, finding cheap accommodation was a real struggle. Competition was stiff and what you got for your money was not exactly to high standards. Among the different rooms I rented, there was not a single one which did not double as a storage closet for various items no longer in use including--without fail--an old piano. I vividly remember one particular place I had found and moved in on the weekend. The very first evening I thought it was snowing in the room--little white things in the air all around me. As a budding scientist it did not take me long to determine that the white specks were, in fact, moths. Upon careful observation I also concluded that the moths were emanating from the good old piano in the room. It only took me a couple weeks to get rid of the critters.

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Recent Experiences

More recent experience is not much different from that of my student years. Except for a lack of moths, there are still pianos in many private house guest accommodations. Even my not-so-subtle threats of going to practice etudes in the middle of the night do not seem to faze their owners at all. In short, their piano is a firm fixture of the room. You also still find an old "grand" in some not so new hotels, right in their not so grand-anymore foyer. But they still did for piano practice of my teenagers a few years ago. Actually, my sons' practice put some life into the stogy place. But now, there is an entirely new wrinkle to your old piano. It is rapidly becoming a valuable asset due to its keys, commonly made from ivory. As you may know, the UN has been in hot pursuit of illegal ivory trade for years. For example, Tanzania was just persuaded to burn some $50 million worth of elephant tusk ivory. France, Japan, Hong Kong and other countries have also agreed to destroy such illicit stockpiles in their jurisdictions. Where does that leave ivory carvers and other traditional users of that raw material?

Ivory Carvings

If you ever get to "China-Town" in your city or another one check out vendors of artistic carvings. One thing is for sure, you'll find lots of intricate carvings in all sizes with many made from ivory. From small figurines to the most amazing multi-dimensional carvings of whole elephant tusks, there does not appear any shortage of artisans' ideas--nor any shortage of ivory. That brings us to the supply of ivory and the ivory trade.

Ivory Supply

Most ivory comes from Africa, more specifically from African elephants in the wild. They used to roam the continent in vast numbers. One hundred years ago there were approximately half million elephants in Africa. Even in the 1970's the count was still over 100,000 but these days there number has dwindled to roughly 10,000 wild elephants in Africa. No doubt, poaching elephants for ivory is a problem. Their carcasses are found every day, usually with their tusks gone, a clear sign of why they died. But ivory is not the only reason for the elephants' rapid decline. There is another one rarely mentioned by the liberal news. That reason is rapid expansion of agricultural areas throughout the continent. Native forest cover is being replaced with agricultural fields, coffee plantations and the like. The natural forest cover biomass has supplied more than 80% of the entire energy needs for heating and cooking in Kenya over the last three decades. Of course no vegetable farmer or plantation manager is happy to have a herd of marauding elephants devastating their plants overnight. No wild animal recognizes "political" boundaries between their natural habitat and the next farm field. Therefore, the conflict between burgeoning populations, the need to grow crops to feed the people and their desires to grow products for export can only increase. For example, many fresh cut flowers destined for the European market are also grown in the African highlands and transported by plane to large cities in Europe. Altogether, it produces constant pressure on the remaining free-roaming wild life in Africa.

Ivory Trade

Ivory is the natural material of elephants' tusks. The National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking & Commercial Ban on Trade in Elephant Ivory was just announced on the White House web site. Apart from a prohibition of import or export of ivory it will also "restrict domestic resale of elephant ivory." However, there appear to be some unintended consequences. For example, the Agora Financial reports in its 5 Min Forecast: "Even the noblest intentions of bureaucrats have their unintended consequences. Last month, the feds tightened their limits on imports of African elephant ivory -- eliminating many exceptions previously written into the regulations. "By effectively controlling illegal ivory trade at home and assisting elephant range states and consumer countries around the world, we can have a significant impact on elephant conservation," said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as it issued the new rules. And with that, the lives of violinists, violists, cellists and double bassists have just gotten a lot harder. An advisory from the League of American Orchestras reads: "If a musician purchased an instrument containing African elephant ivory after 1976, they are not allowed to bring it into the U.S. Even if it is certified and even if they are simply returning from an international performance." And pre-1976 bows are under strict limits. "Every string player who has a small piece of ivory in their bow will need to get a passport for each instrument and bow," writes the music critic Norman Lebrecht at Arts Journal. "Every time you buy a new bow, you will need to register it and pay a $75 fee." Of course, none of the new rules affecting any musician carrying an instrument with a speck of ivory will stop the coming extirpation of elephants from the wilds. I suspect, more likely than not, they will only hasten that. Also, the large-scale destruction of previously harvested (legally or illegally) ivory makes the (illegal) ivory trade even more lucrative than it has been ever before. That, in turn can only encourage more poaching and speed up the elephants' disappearance. The slogan "Burn the ivory, save the elephant" is, at best, a misconceived idealism.

Material of Choice

What other objects of common use are made of ivory, already for centuries? Well, I can think of a few besides violin bows that commonly contain a speck of it, about the size of the fingernail on your pinky. Apart from carvings, ivory is also the material of choice for several common objects. Some of these may not be far away but you may have never thought about them. Natural ivory is the material of choice for a variety of application due to its density, dimensional stability and other physic-chemical properties that are still unsurpassed by synthetic composites. I can think of a number of such items made partly or entirely from ivory, but let's just focus on one of which there is a considerable supply in the world, namely piano keys. For the purpose of the new rule, the definition of "antique" was also changed. In order to be exempt from any trade restriction in "antique" ivory, the item must now be at least 100 years old, no longer just 50 years, as was the case before for antiques. Therefore, most pianos will not be exempt from the rule.

Pianos

Pianos, especially older ones, have a lot of ivory in their keys! Well, there you have it. If moving your violin bow across a border requires a "special passport" for your instrument, the feds are likely to send you to the slammer even thinking about transporting your "upright" from here to there without proper permits. Perhaps just moving your piano from one room to another in your house without a proper certificate establishing the keys' origin etc., could find you in violation of the new law. Just trying to sell an old honky-tonk may henceforth have to come with an advisory statement like "consult your legal representative." However, here is your chance to cash in: I would not be surprised if "contraband" piano keys would become hot items in the true underground economy. Perhaps they may even begin to rival crypto-currencies and other "alternative" forms of payment in the not too distant future. So, even if you don't cherish your old piano any longer, at least think about the ivory keys it may hold!


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Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser -- Bio and Archives

Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser is author of CONVENIENT MYTHS, the green revolution – perceptions, politics, and facts Convenient Myths


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