I think it may be ivory, but not sure. It is 4" tall, 2 1/2" wide and 2" thick. A friend bought it in Hong Kong in the late 1970's. It is beautifully carved.
Came from Hong Kong.
Dear Diane,
You have an elephant Ivory netsuke made for the western market in around 1970. Its well executed and I know these things can be sold for around $ 300 but the problem is you cannot sell it in a formal setting / public sale. CITES regulation prohibits selling ivory after 1947 without a CITES certificate. If you have bought it with recipe and imported it officially in your country in ca. 1970 you can ask for a CITES certificate. If you do not have that please do not try to get the certificate because the piece can be confiscated. Original Netsuke are Japanese and made to wear als belt knots on kimono's. These Hong kong pieces are made because the demand was high and collectors were buying them. My estimation in 1 euro and 1 euro because you cannot sell them in a legal way.