Help: Antique Simpson real Ivory brush?

[emmajuliette]

Hello all,

I'm going through boxes of things I inherited from my great uncle and I found a completely lovely Simpson shaving brush, but unlike you all, I know exactly noting about shaving brushes beyond that this one is really beautiful. It's from a box with things that belonged to his father so I guess dates it to 1880s-1930s...
Would anyone be able to help? tell me about great uncle George's taste? anything at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Emmajuliette

 

[Bhugo]

Wow. Pretty....

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

That is one lovely looking brush, and I believe it is is an old style Simpson label. If that is real ivory (and I've no reason to believe it isn't) then that brush must be worth a fortune today. Even in Victorian times they would be a pretty luxurious items, let alone now when trade in ivory is very heavily restricted -- for good reason.

 

[emmajuliette]

That is one lovely looking brush, and I believe it is is an old style Simpson label. If that is real ivory (and I've no reason to believe it isn't) then that brush must be worth a fortune today. Even in Victorian times they would be a pretty luxurious items, let alone now when trade in ivory is very heavily restricted -- for good reason.

Thank you for the info...so it could be his father's, that would match the dates better. It's beautiful but as per your comment I do feel a bit iffy about the ivory owning (and liking it, is it awful to say it feels lovely to hold?) When you say a fortune what should I be thinking, i.e. do I need to insure it? or what is the 'right' thing to do with ivory?

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

I feel a bit out of my depth here. I believe they might have continued to use ivory in brushes into the Edwardian era, but it could have been later than that. As for values (which we're not meant to give on B&B) and the in and outs of ivory trading, I've no idea. Any trade in modern ivory is banned in most countries, and I think there are restrictions on even antique ivory, but I'm not really sure.

 

[emmajuliette]

Thank you Stewart, and apologies I didn't know re values on here, I think I'll take it to Simpson next time I'm in London and I'll ask if they want it back for their archive or something. I was reading up after Ivory trading post your comment and started feeling even more uneasy about owning it. I'll do a belated return to sender I think. Many thanks for your help

 

[BSAGuy]

That's a way cool brush. No need to feel bad about owning that ivory. It was harvested well over 100 years ago, so that part is a done deal. Your owning it was not a factor in its harvest.

 

[Lightcs1776]

That's a way cool brush. No need to feel bad about owning that ivory. It was harvested well over 100 years ago, so that part is a done deal. Your owning it was not a factor in its harvest.

+1

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[emmajuliette]

+1

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Thanks guys, I rang up Simpson this morning to see if they could tell me anything but admitted they had no real way of dating it.

 

[Hoka Hey]

Keep it. It was a different world then. Lamps were filled with whale oil. No guilt attachment. Selling it may be seen as controversial, depending on your frame of mind.

 

[Lmarkow]

I don't want you to be uncomfortable with that troublesome, old brush. Please, let me help. Send it to me. I will put it with my razors made from turtles. No need to thank me.

 

[emmajuliette]

Thanks, you're right it was a different world, I need to leave my precious 21st century feelings to one side. I'm not sure about keeping it, not so much because of the ivory but more so because I have 75 boxes of his stuff to go through and deal with (and I'm finding out he had good, often expensive taste it appears in all areas of life!), if I had only the one thing of his then I would most definitely keep it as an heirloom but tbh while it's lovely the two boxes I went through today had so many other lovely things in it that making decisions about what to keep will be extremely difficult. I live in a tiny flat, keeping the lot just simply isn't an option, well not unless I want to end up in the papers as the 'woman who got crushed by a stack of boxes fallen on top of her' . I had no idea there was such a cult following for shaving brushes so this has been completely fascinating and a whole new world as it were. Does anyone know if there are specialist shaving brush dealers, because now I know enthusiasts exist, really any of you would enjoy this way more than I ever would. Also the cat appears to be intimidated by it...go figure.

 

[emmajuliette]

I don't want you to be uncomfortable with that troublesome, old brush. Please, let me help. Send it to me. I will put it with my razors made from turtles. No need to thank me.

I think you've inadvertently confirmed what I though the razors I found might be...

 

[emmajuliette]

One of the members just gave me an excellent idea- I will sell it and give the money to an anti-poaching charity, any suggestions of such a charity welcome.

 

[Bottletop]

To find out for sure if it ivory, hold it up to a good strong light. You should see lines/a grain pattern to it. The lines should have a slight curve and should start get closer together towards the centre of the curve. IE like a log/tree growth rings. Please resist any temptation to stick a hot pin or needle into it to see if it smells of burning hair. This will damage the finish by making a nice brown burnt stained pin hole. Not to mention damaging a lovely and possibly valuable item and will adversely affect price should you sell it.

 

[Dryphter]

Keep it. One of a kind d if it is indeed ivory.

 

[BigJ]

According to Simpsons website, they started making brushes in 1919. So this is right in your time-frame. I love the look of the ivory brush (whether or not it is politically correct)!

 

[Cumberland Sausage]

One of the members just gave me an excellent idea- I will sell it and give the money to an anti-poaching charity, any suggestions of such a charity welcome.

That's a really nice idea; my suggestion for an organization fighting poaching would the WWF (my son contributes to this organisation's campaign to protect snow leopards), but there are many other charities doing good work in this area.

However, it might be quite hard to actually sell the brush, from what I can gather. In the UK, you have to be able to demonstrate that antique ivory is more than 70 years old in order to sell it, but it looks like this period might be 100 years in the USA. I'm not sure what constitutes "proof" in either country, having only done a quick internet search prompted by your original post here. Hopefully, somebody else on B&B with more knowledge than I have in this field will be able to give better advice.

 

[emmajuliette]

WWF, that's a great idea. I have dealt with obtaining certificates for 'problematic' antiques before through my job so I think it's doable, it would have been great had Simpson been a bit more helpful, but I'll figure it out. I know America insists on 100 years but it would be nice if it stayed here and went to someone who collects them, or at least will enjoy it properly. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[TheVez2]

That is a very cool brush for sure. You don't see many ivory brushes around here. Of course everyone here is saying "Keep IT" obviously, cause we'd never dream of parting with something like that. But I understand having lots of stuff to go through, and if traditional shaving is not your thing, then really, there's no reason to keep it so long as you find something in there that has meaning for you to keep. Good luck going through everything. Someone is going to be very lucky to obtain that. I know I'd love it!