such as carved masks, salt cellars, oliphants and other emblems of importance have been traded and used as gifts and religious ceremonies for hundreds of years in Africa. Kongo ivories were one West African type, and the art of Benin produced many large pieces, some for use in the court of the Kingdom of Benin, including ivory masks that may be portraits, and objects in a quasi-European taste for export via the Portuguese. Examples include a set of saltcellars with Portuguese Figures. The simpler Sapi-Portuguese Ivory Spoon came from further along the coast. Polychromed ivory Controversy over ivory trade The trading of ivory has become heavily restricted over recent decades, especially in the Western world, following the international CITES agreement and local legislation. United States The trade of ivory—which in the United States is often based on its age—is controversial, and laws related to it may vary by state. In January 1990 CITES enacted the ban on the international trade of ivory. To undermine the market and demonstrate its opposition to the trade of ivory, the Obama administration orchestrated the destruction of six tons of ivory in November 2013. In February 2014, the U.S. Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service announced a ban on the trade in elephant ivory within the United States by prohibiting all imports and—with narrow exceptions—exports and resales by auction houses and other dealers. On November 16, 2017, it was announced that US President Donald Trump had lifted a ban on ivory imports from Zimbabwe implemented by Barack Obama. References Notes Citations Sources Guérin, Sarah M. “Ivory Carving in the Gothic Era, Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries”, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010 Hecht, Johanna. “Ivory and Boxwood Carvings, 1450–1800.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (October 2008) "OB": Harold Osborne, Antonia Boström. "Ivories" in The Oxford Companion to Western Art, ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Accessed 5 October 2010 Osborne, Harold (ed), The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts, 1975, OUP, Rawson, Jessica (ed). The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, Williamson, Paul. An Introduction to Medieval Ivory Carvings, 1982, HMSO for V&A Museum, External links Netsuke: masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which