Fight to the death?

I AM standing, glass of burgundy in hand, with a group of experts inspecting arms and armour coming up for auction. One describes how to spot hippopotamus ivory-handled swords, making them (I assume – I didn’t catch that bit) more valuable. It’s the black dots in the ivory I think he said. Acting out of character, I slip into the role of doom-mongering Ghost of Christmas Past and point out that with the Ivory Bill banning the sale or purchase of all elephant ivory, antique and otherwise (see my article in the October 2018 issue for details and the few exceptions), due to become law this spring – it has been passed, almost unopposed, in Parliament but is being challenged in the courts – auction houses and dealers will be scared to touch ivory until the workings of the law become clear. That will take a few cases and perhaps a few years. What’s more, I add, feeding off the gloom that