I picked these up today from a friend who is thinning the herd. Pretty good detail with one repair at the bottom left of the checked side. He treated me right on the price. I couldn't get the money out fast enough.

I have no plans to sale as he is a good friend and I wanted something of his for remembrance, but what do y'all think the high end is on these?

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A few more. The spacer looks to be ivory also or a very well matching bone. I think it may be glued in rather than all one piece.

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The spacer is very well fitted; but since it doesn't exibit any growth rings, I assume it's added. I haven't found any maker's marks.

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They are certainly a high quality pair and worth MULTIPLE times what you paid. They may be just a might "ouchy" if you were to actually touch off a round with them in hand. I hope to see pics of them "saddled up" on a proper Colt in the near future

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Y. B. Ord & A. Ree

That is a beautiful set! I have seen numbers thrown around on the Colt Forum and elsewhere in the $3K - $5K range for antique SAA ivory grips.

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Terry Lester

The "proper" Colt is what I'm wondering about. It'll need to be the right one. Maybe a cavalry model or an engraved one. I'm going to let it percolate for now.

I have these 1st gen SAA's now, but I'm not feeling these grips on any of them.



I'm wondering if they're antique or just aged by the maker. Any way to tell?
Jerry bought these at an auction around 10 years ago, so we don't have any history on them.

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A SWAG 2,000-2,500.

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LEX ET ORDO

Based on those age cracks on the butt I believe they are 120+ years old. The grips appear to be for a Colt Single Action dated approximately 1883 or earlier; after that the grip frame (actually trigger guard) had a pin used to stabilize the 2 piece hard rubber grips and these grips would not fit unless the pin was removed. The grips might possibly be for an 1851 Navy Colt or maybe even an 1860 Army Colt.

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Terry Lester

There really nice, and I think there naturally aged. I would try them on your oldest colt SAA and see how they fit, might be for an older black powder Colt I think they were made for a right handed person. As far as price goes depends on how bad some body needs them or wants them. I would say between $1,000,00 to $3,000.00.Your friend did you right..................................................................M*

Send them to me; I will try them on my 1880 vintage etched panel Frontier Six Shooter and let you know how they fit.

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Terry Lester

Those belong on an early nickel and/or engraved gun
They sure look old to me

I'm sure you would never change the grips on that Hogleg

That's a very nice pistol and accessories.

My oldest SAA is 1897 so the hunt begins!

"The "proper" Colt is what I'm wondering about"

As you no doubt know, the proper one is the one the grips fit on, since SAA grip frames have a degree of variability across all generations.

I suggest you put those pictures up on the Colt Forum for some additional feedback - especially on the potential value. I think you will get a lot of admirers over there. Put the pictures in the Colt Single Action Army Forum.

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Terry Lester

Fantastic set of old carved tooth! $2000 would be a good deal. Probably wouldn't have trouble selling them for $2500 in fair time.

Ya done well!

Nice and unique!

Those would look great on an engraved, Nickel plated 1st Generation SAA made sometime between about 1910 and 1940. Which of course will cost as much as a late model used car.

OMG, those are truly “drool worthy” ivory stocks. They have a ton of things going for them. I would hate to think what it would cost to have a duplicate set made today! Definitely made for a right handed shooter, but I wouldn’t shoot a gun wearing them for all the tea in China. I don’t know everything, but I don’t believe that there is any way to “age” ivory to that extent except for the natural passage of time. Ivory’s color can be artificially aged but not the concentric lines on the bottom of the grips. I would love to know when they were made and by who, because I wonder how long it would take to get those lines on the bottom of the grips.

What did your friend have them on? It may be impossible to find a gun that they will fit on perfectly. As a matter of fact, they probably won’t fit perfectly on the gun that they were made for originally, because ivory will naturally shrink over time. They are a wonderful work of art, and knowing their history would have been great. My value…….PRICELESS. Thanks very much for sharing them with us here!
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Hey Larry, he hadn't put them on anything. He has several SAA's that he's fitted stags to but didn't do anything with these. I think these would have to fitted to anything I try to put them on. I, too, believe they are a work of art. If the right pistol doesn't come along, they may wind up as a display. I think they would look good on a high end 1851 Navy as Lester said with a case and accessories or an early 1873 SAA engraved gun. I'll have to sell a kidney though...or start a GoFundMe. Is "needing" a $15-20K gun a valid reason for a GoFundMe? I've seen people do them for honeymoons and vacations-this seems much more worthy and longer lasting.

The 2 piece Colt ivory grips on this Single Action are very nearly 100 years old and they have not yet aged on the butt like yours have. They also look fairly mundane compared to yours…..

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Terry Lester

Not exactly mundane...nice rig!

His "remembrance?"
What if you go first?
$400 would be max for me.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

I have been hanging around SA hustlers and traders for more than 5 decades. I have known some of the best and some of the worst. As much as I love the SAA, I decided decades ago that I would not play seriously because faking and forging was rampant even that many decades back. Tommy Haas and one or two others could rebuild/refinish a gun so well that people were resorting to disassembly and literally miking parts with a micrometer to judge if parts were "thinner" from being refinished. The last time I ever saw Tommy I was with a friend decades ago that knew him a lot better than me. We were walking a large gun show and met Tommy coming down the aisle. He was elated because he had just bought a really nice box for a Frontier Six for $1500. Remember now, this was decades back! He was elated because he just happened to have an etched panel gun that was like new. I sometimes wonder who is fondling that "NIB" Frontier, thinking it is real......
I hate to tell you guys, but I think those grips have been artificially aged. They are pretty grips, but grips don't check that much on the end grain without showing wear, usually mild cracking on the side surfaces, darkening, staining, shrinkage, and just general loss on the large surfaces. I know a SA trader that has aged MANY a pair in his wife's oven. He was a master at baking that kind of checking into pristine grips.
Compare to a naturally aged set here- You speak American?

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

My thoughts exactly !
When I saw the one piece construction and the apparent age of the ivory ( I'm no expert on faked ivory grips)
My first thought was Cap and Ball Colt ...
... 1851 Navy or 1860 Army ... They would look right ...
The grips just look right for use on a cap & ball Colt ...

Notice the "carving" is done on the left side grip panel ...
Seems to me you want the carving on the right side panel to fill the hollow of your shooting hand ... maybe done for a left handed shooter or for a Presentation Piece , so the eagle would show in the display case ? I don't know ...just idle thought's !

If these Awesome Ivories could only Talk !
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Thanks for all the comments and opinions. I don't know if they're 20 years old or 120 years old or somewhere in between.

I had some of the same thoughts as handejector concerning the age.

They are definitely real ivory. The weight, grain and feel are right, so their not 'fakes'. I don't consider artificial aging to be faking anything if that is what's been done.

The carving is so intricate and layered that I wondered if it was done with modern tools. I know you can stain ivory with tea grounds to get the darker look. As far as cooking them, it seems like the cracks would be on both ends if they were aged in an oven.

I suspect there is no absolute when it comes to looking at ivory. I am certainly not an expert but here are some thoughts. Animals, like people, have different traits. Some are strong while others are weaker. Some have better health and nutrition than others. I would imagine this would effect bone, teeth and ivory. Some being more sound than others and thus aging differently.

I suspect age of the animal and the quality of the tusk at the time it was taken will vary. Also, after carving, the amount of use and type of storage and care will affect preservation.

All I know is that they are real and very well done by a talented craftsman. Like art and engraving, they will not appeal to everyone (my brother doesn't like them ).

I'm not selling the grips at this time so the actual value was just curiosity on my part. Jerry is an elderly friend who is declining and I like to have small things to remember people with. He and I had SAA's as a common interest.

Some states apparently will not allow the sale of ivory unless you can prove it's prehistoric. A guy I used to work with inherited two matching Colts with beautiful ivory grips. His initial plan was to sell them but he found out they couldn't be sold with the ivories on them. I haven't looked too much into it as it's not something that's ever likely to happen to me.

Obviously, Lee has forgotten more than I will EVER know!

I realize that what I am getting ready to write includes a lot of suspect, probably, guess, and other feelings of that sort. This is what I would wonder. The set of ivory grips on the Model 3 American were on “working man’s” gun from 150 years ago. I would suspect that they spent many, many, many days in harsh conditions including rain, extreme heat and cold, and who knows what else. Their care was probably nothing more than regular maintenance of the gun. On the other hand, I would guess that 444 magnum’s ivory grips because of their extravagance were probably babied their entire existence, spending their time on a display gun, indoors, etc. They definitely weren’t made to spend time on a daily user. Because of their age, they may have spent time in the heat or cold of the indoor type, but not nearly to the extent of the lawman’s grips. Is it possible that being babied, as opposed to living a harsh existence, could result in the differences in aging?
Larry

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Totally agree with that statement. Perhaps Lee is correct about the grips being artificially aged. However, given the work that went into carving them I would think that they would demand a fairly hefty price regardless of how old they are.

As mentioned previously, at a glance they appear to be similar to grips that were original on percussion era engraved Colts. You could probably do an investigation to to see how closely the carving on these grips compares to those early Colt percussion era patterns.

I have attached a few pictures below of ivory grips on an engraved 1877 vintage Colt Single Action. I am reasonably sure that the grips pictured below have not been artificially aged. One thing that stands out to me is apparent aging on the sides of the grips as well as the butt. Of course the gun and grips pictured below apparently saw some extensive use during their working life, as opposed to the light usage of the OP’s grips, so I’m not sure these pictures prove anything one way or the other except to give some additional visuals of naturally aged ivory grips…..

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Terry Lester

That's a beautiful, early gun, Terry. Do you have pictures of the entire pistol?

As we've mentioned already, I think there are several factors that affect the aging. You already mentioned usage-that would include oil and salt from the hand as well as temperature and moisture swings.

Low humidity and warmer temperatures can cause shrinkage and cracking in ivory. My various ivory grips are never stored in my safe's where I have heaters.

I would think that two sets of ivory grips- one stored in Arizona for 100 years and one stored in New York state for 100 years- would probably age differently.

An internet search hasn't revealed anything to date with the depth and elevation changes found in my grips. I'm going to dig out my engraving books and see if I see anything similar.

I’ll PM the link.

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Terry Lester

I would say that whatever gun those ivory stocks were originally made for was not a gun that the owner planned on carrying. Obviously a lot of ivory stocks did see real world use but they generally weren't carved that elaborately, they were either plain or maybe had the classic steer's head or eagle on one side.

Too bad we'll never know about the original gun they were separated from but I'll bet it was something special.

If you look at the grips and especially the carving under a 'Black Light' (UV ?) you can often times see if there have been repairs done or if the carving has been been added on. Some carving high relief is done in built up layers glued into place.

It can be used to see if the center spacer is of one piece with the panels or has been glued into place. Even the best fit will still show the thinnest of glue line at some point around the seam.

Most glues & epoxy bonding agents will show different colors under the light.

Real ivory is a very bright white color, almost fluorescent.
Fake ivory, plastics and the resin ivory subs, ect will be very dull off white to a blue color.

Awfully nice deep relief carving work!

I looked through my Colt SAA and Colt Engraving Books today and found many images of ivory grips from the 1850's through the early 1900's.
A matched set of Colt 1862 revolvers with Colt factory carved grips from 1863 seem to be the inspiration for my grips.



Sorry about the quality. This is a photo of a poor photo in a book.

This grip was carved on an 1860 Army pistol sometime between 1860 and 1869. Again, this style looks to be the inspiration for my grips.



I was concerned that the depth of the carving might be the result of modern tools due to the complexity. Here's a picture of a cane handle carved by Gustave Young. I think my concerns about the complexity and the available methods are unfounded.
Gustave worked for Colt from 1853-1858. The man was obviously talented.



I found many images of ivory grips that were carved in the 1800's that looked nearly new. So cracking is not required with age in ivory. Again, we circle back around to storage conditions and use.

Also, I found a couple of pictures of ivory grips with cracking on the bottom, but not on the main surfaces.

This pistol is from 1892.



This carving is on a SAA engraved by L D Nimschke, so the time frame would be 1873-1904. Notice the age cracks at the bottom, but no where else.



Interesting study. Nothing conclusive about my grips in the OP and may never will be. I don't think there are any absolutes about ivory and aging. I am thinking that they would look appropriate on an engraved Colt from the 1850-1860's period.

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