This paper presents research on an eighteenth century Benin carved elephant ivory tusk in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Included are notes on elephant ivory; its use in Benin; the history of collecting Benin artifacts in the West; and the technology, provenance and condition of this particular tusk, including scientific analyses of substances found on its surface. Research results provided essential information for proposal of an appropriate conservation treatment, which involved removal of a post-Benin resinous coating and cleaning of ingrained dirt with natural and synthetic saliva.