Replica United States Senate Gavel

This is a hand-sculpted replica of the ivory gavel used in the United States Senate. I matched it precisely to the size, weight and design of the original. It is my own hand-shaped design, which took me about a month to design and make.

The original small, handle-less gavel is a piece of solid ivory, unique among all the deliberative bodies in the world. It has been used by the United States Senate since the late 18th century. The original was damaged by Vice President Richard Nixon when he was calling the Senate to order during a late-night debate in 1954. Various attempts were made to repair the damaged gavel: steel reinforcement plates were capped to the ends, and a screw was later added to hold the body together. Ultimately, these proved insufficient in holding the gavel together against repeated calls-to-order. In the mid 20th century a replacement ivory gavel, matched ins size and style, was gifted to the United States by India. ABC news calls this gavel one of the 7 greatest gifts to the United States in its entire history.

My replica copies the exact size, shape and weight of the original, using detailed photographs provided by the curators of the United States Senate. As ivory is no longer a sculpting medium available to artists, mine is made out of a sustainable ivory replica material. The weight and volume of my replica matches the exact 1.9 grams per cubic centimeter of real ivory, so it feels very heavy in the hand, exactly like the original.

This took me about two months to design and make.

Hand made in the USA.

Buy It on Etsy or eBay

Contact: kenneth.jones@gmail.com