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Animals Antique That Look Like Celluloid but Are Solid

Ivory: Genuine, Simulated, and Confusing

Historically, genuine ivory has been difficult to obtain, highly sought after and, consequently, an expensive luxury item. In some ways ivory is very similar to precious metals and gemstones. But while gold and silver have carried purity marks and have been closely regulated by governments for centuries, ivory has never been subjected to similar trade laws regarding genuineness or quality. It has never been illegal to sell imitations of ivory. As a result, there are a tremendous number of ivory look-alike objects in the market place today. These include present day fakes to 19th century ivory substitutes like celluloid.

Ivory imitations and fakes accept dramatically increased since the mid-1970s. This is largely due to laws, beginning with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which limit commercial ivory trading to protect threatened species like whales and elephants. Every bit additional laws connected to tighten the sale of natural ivory, more and more ivory fakes and substitutes appeared. Near mass produced new ivory wait-alike products are honestly sold as imitations at low prices. Just some of those pieces, as well equally deliberately disruptive intentional fakes of sometime ivory, ofttimes appear in the antiques market. This article will look at the bones ways to carve up 18-carat ivory from present day simulated ivory also as older look-alike ivory.

What is Ivory?

Many people associate the word "ivory" with only elephant tusks but this is not accurate. Ivory comes from teeth as well every bit tusks of a number of mammals. Tusks are only big teeth that extend outside the rima oris. Elephant tusks, for example, are upper incisors; walrus tusks are upper canines. Tusks and teeth are formed of the same four parts: enamel, cementum, dentine and pulp cavity. These parts are shown in an elephant tusk above but are included in all other forms of ivory regardless of animal species.

The mammals which provide ivory are: one) elephants (order Proboscidea) which include species alive today (extant) every bit well as prehistoric elephants now died out (extinct) like mammoths; two) walrus; 3) whales--sperm, killer and narwhal; 4) hippopotamus and 5) warthog. These groups represent the master sources of commercial ivory used over the years. Small sized pieces of noncommercial ivory have likewise been obtained from other species such as tusks from most species of wild and domestic pigs and boars and from the teeth of beaver, elk, camel and bears.

Recognizing 18-carat Ivory

Many people rely on the hot needle examination for ivory. When touched with a hot needle, genuine ivory chars and turns blackness; a hot needle will cause artificial textile to cook or fire. In our view this test is bad for two reasons: first, information technology's destructive to the slice tested, second, it doesn't tell you the type of ivory y'all're looking at. Knowing the kind of ivory yous're dealing with is now extremely important due to the laws banning the sales of whale ivories.

In their book Identification Guide for Ivory and Ivory Substitutes, the National Fish & Wildlife Forensics Laboratory recommends a three step approach to the identification of ivory and ivory imitations. 1) examination with long wave blackness light; 2) examination of physical features/shapes; three) look for Schreger angles (crosshatch grain characteristic of elephant ivory). The step-by-step chart on page 42 will guide you through an easy yes or no procedure of emptying.

Blackness Calorie-free

Using blackness light is an important offset footstep because it saves fourth dimension past ruling out bogus materials. Almost all plastics and resins fluoresce blue or blue/white under long wave black calorie-free regardless of the surface color in ordinary light. 18-carat ivory usually fluoresces white but this can vary depending on whether the ivory has a patina. Most natural old patinas fluoresce dull yellowish or brownish. Be very suspicious of any brightly colored fluorescence such as yellowish as this indicates artificial aging in dung, urine or animal fats. Use black calorie-free equally your first test, not your merely examination. Black low-cal is useful for eliminating artificial materials but can non alone prove a piece is ivory. Bone, vegetable ivory (cellulose) and glued together ivory grit, for example, all react similar genuine ivory nether blackness lite.

Physical Features and Construction

Ivory is formed by living growing tissue. The direction and forms of growth are unique to each ivory producing species (see illustrations folio 41). These unique grain structures take so far been incommunicable to indistinguishable in artificial substances like plastics and resins. Generally, grain ever runs along the long dimension of a piece of authentic worked ivory.

Attempts to put grain in artificial ivory go back over 100 years. Celluloid, i of the earliest plastics invented in 1868, has a prominent grain. Grain in celluloid and other artificial ivory is usually like shooting fish in a barrel to detect considering it commonly appears as nearly perfectly parallel lines and shows a definite repeating pattern. Grain in natural ivory is random without any noticeable design. A repeating pattern with uniform even lines is almost always a sign of a man-made artificial ivory.

The presence of grain also allows us to eliminate other natural not-ivory materials such every bit bone and glued together ivory grit. But like the black light test, grain alone does not guarantee a slice is ivory. You must employ several tests earlier you can make an accurate judgement.

Schreger Lines (Angles)

The primal feature to identifying elephant ivory is a unique pattern of crosshatching that appear in cross sections of elephant tusk. These lines, actually rows of microscopic tubes, are known as Schreger Lines; where they cross course Schreger Angles. Schreger Lines have never been duplicated in bogus plastics or resins. The presence of Schreger Lines ever qualifies a slice as elephant ivory. The lines are most easily seen in the bases of figures and anywhere cuts are fabricated at right angles to the grain. While the presence of Schreger Lines tin be diagnostic, they may not ever be obvious and depending on how a piece of ivory was cut they won't e'er bear witness. Information technology is a myth that a slice made of ivory will always have them, so the absence of Schreger Lines cannot exist a reliable indicator of a substance other than ivory.

Schreger Angles are used to establish whether ivory is from present day elephants or extinct elephants such every bit mammoths. This is an important distinction considering the sale of extinct elephant ivory is basically unrestricted while the auction of present day elephant ivory is tightly regulated. Schreger Angles of less than 90° indicate mammoth ivory; angles greater than 115° signal elephant ivory. Use the outer Schreger Angles (closest to the exterior edge) but for this exam. Exercise non use Schreger Angles in the centre of the tusk. Measure at least v angles to go a true average.

Exceptions and Special Cases

Ivory basics, which are the difficult cellulose kernels from Tagua palms, are oftentimes confused with genuine ivory. They fluoresce similar genuine ivory under black light and show a fine grain under magnification. Although they can grow to the size of a small apple, the majority of ivory nuts are under two" which makes them unsuitable for large carvings. The most common use of ivory nuts is for new netsuke. The definitive examination is to utilise a modest drib of sulfuric acid. This will form a pink stain on ivory basics in 10-12 minutes but volition not stain genuine ivory. Even so, utilise this test as a terminal resort; the stain is permanent and not removable.

Don't be misled by surface color in ordinary lite. Patina, regardless of color, does not prove either historic period or whether a piece is 18-carat ivory. Natural original patinas on genuine ivory can fade completely away in bright sunlight. The surface tin fade so much that Schreger Lines and grain become almost invisible.

Large pieces of former ivory commonly form cracks over the years. Some persons incorrectly employ cracks equally a sign of age or proof that a piece is ivory. This is misleading. Many new pieces of molded bogus ivory have "cracks" and other imperfections deliberately included in the casting.

Summary

The critical point to keep in heed is the need for multiple tests. No one test provides an accurate footing for sentence. Under normal circumstances, 18-carat ivory (with no or niggling patina) should appear white under long wave black light and genuine ivory always has grain. Elephant ivory e'er has Schreger Lines, a cross hatch design, when seen in cross section. Translucence is an ivory feature that tin can be helpful in differentiating it from bone, every bit os is an opaque substance.

Anyone dealing in ivory needs to know the laws regulating its sale, display and transportation. The primary federal laws governing ivory are: The Endangered Species Act, Lacey Act, Convention On International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and African Elephant Conservation Act. Copies should be available at larger public libraries and most U.S. Fish and Wild fauna offices.

For farther reading:

Cox, West. Chinese Ivory Sculpture. 1946. Crown. NY, NY.

Espinoza/Mann. Identification Guide for Ivory and Ivory Substitutes. 1992. available from World Wildlife Find, PO Box 4866, Hampden Mail Office, Baltimore MD 21211. credit card orders (410) 516-6951

Harris, G. Fascination of Ivory. 1991. Americas Group, Los Angles, CA.

Penniman, T. Pictures of Ivory and Other Brute Teeth. 1984. Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.

Reikichi, U. Netsuke Handbook. 1988. Tuttle. Tokyo, Nihon

Trounce, H. Is it ivory?. 1983. Ahio Publishing, Tulsa, OK.

Fig. 1 18" effigy of new cow bones

Fig. 2 19th century celluloid finger nail buffer

Fig. three New plastic tusk

Fig. iv Repro pulverisation flask with molded resin inserts.

Fig. 5 Tusks are just large teeth. All geunuine ivories are made dentine plant in the teeth of all mammals.

Fig. 6 Primary sources of commerical ivory over the years.

Editors Note: Other than a bones description, this article will non embrace whale scrimshaw (carvings on whale teeth). Genuine antiquarian scrimshaw is highly regulated by federal and state governments and legally sold past permit simply.

Warning Signs of Fakes and Look-akin Ivory

Jagged edged pits and broken bubbles are typical in the surface of synthetic ivory substitutes. These materials are usually some type of resin/plastic and are almost always molded. Trapped air and expanding gas from impurities near always cause rounded smooth-backed holes in the finished surface. No similar blazon pits or holes are constitute in genuine ivories.

No grain or the presence of a repeating grain pattern are two characteristics of artificial ivory. Plastics and resins have no grain. Nineteenth century cellulose was created specifically to imitate genuine ivory and unremarkably has some type of grain. Look at it closely at you'll come across grain lines of regular even thickness repeat in a regular pattern. Grain lines in real ivory are random.

Mammoth or elephant ivory? Place the base or cross section of test piece on a photocopier (or scanner) to get a hard re-create image of the Schreger lines on paper. At present utilise a directly edge to marker and extend lines of intersecting angles(Fig. 17). Then mensurate angles with a protractor (Fig. 18). If the angle of intersection is less than 90°, it is mammoth ivory; more than 115°, elephant ivory. Make your measurements on the outer-near angles and utilise an boilerplate of v angles minimum to insure accurate testing.

Fig. 7 Pits in surface of constructed ivory; about twice actual size.

Fig. 8 Broken bubbles in surface of synthetic ivory. Bodily size.

Fig. 9 Surface of synthetic ivory. No trace of grain.

Fig. 10 Regularly repeated artificial grain in celluloid.

Fig. 11 -- Mold seams and casting lines Many, but non all, cast resins and plastics show seams. They are often concealed in the blueprint equally in the slice shown above. Note tool marks at left.

Fig. 12 -- Discolored pits, parallel grooves All os, even when polished, shows regular pits and irregular grooves nether 10X magnification. Discoloration around pits is common.

Fig. thirteen -- Blue fluoresence. Well-nigh all plastic and resin bogus ivories fluoresce blueish or bluish/white under black lite.

Fig. 14 -- Exist suspicious of rough or obvious tool marks. The deep grooves on this piece appear on the bottom of a supposedly carved tusk. It is a slice of cast resin.

Fig. fifteen -- Joints and seams. Nearly all old ivory carvings are made of unmarried pieces of solid ivory. Cow bones are now being glued together to create big figures. This photograph shows the meeting of four separate pieces typical of the moo-cow bone figures. This is how the statue in Fig. 1, is made.

Fig. sixteen The bases of most larger genuine ivory figures carved from elephant or walrus tusks are oval because that is the natural cross section of the tusk. Bases of many, but not all, artificial ivories are very nearly perfectly round. This is not a conclusive examination but is often 1 more clue in separating new from sometime.

Fig. 17

Fig. 18

Fig. nineteen 18-carat ivory has grain characterized past lines of random spacing and irregular thickness. Annotation alternating lines of night and light grain in photo. Grain will look different from species to species and though the extent of fading or how a piece was cut tin mean it may not ever be obvious, all genuine ivory will have grain. With the exception of celluloid, well-nigh no synthetic ivory has grain. Natural bone has grooves and pits but not grain.

Separating Ivory & Await-akin Ivory

(all photos & illustrations are shown in cross section)

"Ivory" Figures Made from Bone

Relatively large figures that resemble ivory are being made of fish bone and water buffalo bone. The majority of these new pieces are being fabricated in Communist china.

The figures are made by gluing together minor blocks of bone into large masses. The mass is then carved equally if information technology were a unmarried piece. These pieces can be identified past many glue joints from gluing the small-scale blocks.

Joints formed by gluing small-scale blocks of bone.

A new fourteen-inch figure fabricated of glued blocks of bone. Carved in a classical style to resemble antiquarian ivory.