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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: padanova on August 28, 2013, 03:07:25 PM
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First of all, hello everyone. This is my first post here so if i make some mistakes dont hold it against me. I have an carved figure/sculpture of three indian (India) goddesses of fertility but i'm not sure is it real ivory or bone or some sort of plastic. I've tried to find some info on it but was unsuccesfull. If anyone can help it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Can we see the bottom? Mart I took your bottom! ;D have you tried a hot pin test? Only on the bottom!
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first of all, Welcome.....now to this ornament...first we have to ascertain....what its made of...basically..its a process of elimination,first of all, you can try what we call the hot needle test,..which is ..heat a large needle and attempt to insert it into the underside of the base..if it goes in then its most likely to be made of plastic based resin,...if it does,nt...then we look to determine if its bone or ivory.....
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Can we see the bottom? Mart I took your bottom! ;D have you tried a hot pin test? Only on the bottom!
oooo,noooooo,your bottom,s nowt like Mart,s bottom...... ;D
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LOL !! Yes,, we are back on bottoms again !!
A pic of the bottom would help !! Some of the figures are a combination of ground up bone and resin !! Do the hot pin test first and see if you get any melt around the spot !!
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Thanks for your replies guys!! Ok, here is the bottom ;D. It feels a bit different than the rest of the figure?? sorry for the bad photo. Will try that hor needle test tonight.
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It looks like someone tried to write on the bottom.
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Maybe. It looks like it was sawed off.
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Cant see well enough to tell !! Pic is a little blurry !!
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Looks modern and of little value, in my opinion
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Looks like one of the bone/resin statues !!
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The pic is a little blurred when magnified. You can often tell without the hot needle test, if you have a good eye and if you have a very good magnifying glass (and if you know what you're looking for. But a hot needle won't damage it if it is ivory, but there are plenty of links out there that tell you what to look for... this is a very simple, straightforward account.
http://www.asian-arts.net/oriental-treats/fake.htm
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I have tried that hot needle test two times on the bottom side and it left white marks with no smell whatsoever (thanks for the article Mario). Sorry again for the pic quality, weak cell phone...still puzzled about this, maybe bone/resin like Mart said??
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Almost positive that this is a resin based statue !! I see nothing but straight lines on the bottom similar to what would be seen with a belt type sander !! The entire thing is colored and stained in a few places to highlight it !! You can see on the bottom where the stain has seeped and stained part of the bottom as well !! The resolution is not good enough to say for sure it isn`t ivory !! Ivory has a crosshatched pattern that would show on the bottom !! Personally I think its a bone resin combination !! Look on ebay and you can see many of these as well as other resin types !!
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Thanks, you've been most helpfull. What do you think would be its estimated value? cause on ebay prices vary a lot.
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if ..its bone/resin....then its fingers crossed and hope for the best......
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Imagree with Bigwull on that !! There are so many of those that there is little market for them !! But I would double check with someone in your area that is familiar with Ivory !! Remember we are looking at less than quality pics so double check !!
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When you did the hot needle test, did you also take a smell of the smoke, that is normally a dead give away.
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When you did the hot needle test, did you also take a smell of the smoke, that is normally a dead give away.
Yes, there was no smell at all...I has just come to my attention that this statue, along with another similar one, was purchased about 5 years ago on an well known auction in Sweden for quite some bit of money!? I'll follow Mart's advice and try to find someone to take it for appraisal although that will be a challenge cause ivory experts are pretty scarce here.
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As you know, man-made materials normally give off an unpleasant smell. Ivory can give off a very distinctive smell of burning hair, but because it is quite a hard material you may need to get your nostrils up close. Years ago I had a piece and it took several attempts before I picked up that dentist drill smell (my olfactory gear isn't as keen as it used to be), I wanted to know whether it was ivory because if it was I didn't want to keep it (just a personal thing).
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Try and find out the details from that auction!!!!! That should answer your questions!
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Also when you do the hot pin/needle test remember it needs to be almost red hot !! Some of the newer resin mixtures don`t melt as easily as others !!