Federal authorities arrested an art-store owner yesterday on charges that he illegally smuggled large shipments of elephant ivory into the United States.

Victor Gordon, who owns a gallery in Philadelphia, was charged in Brooklyn federal court with conspiracy, smuggling and endangered-wildlife violations.

Investigators from the US Fish & Wildlife Service seized more than a ton of raw ivory — some of which was smuggled from Africa through New York’s JFK Airport.

Brooklyn federal prosecutors say the 68-year-old man paid an associate to hire craftsmen in Africa to carve certain types of stylized designs on elephant tusks and offered tutorials on how to color the ivory to make it appear older than it actually was.

The carvings were later smuggled into the US and sold to customers at Gordon’s shop in Philadelphia, officials said.

If convicted of the charges, Gordon faces up to 20 years in prison.