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Hi,

I am just looking for some thoughts on these figurines. I have set up a web page with detailed pictures and am planning on selling them on aBay.

Thanks in advance

Link :Hand carved ivory Emperor and Empress figurines detail picks

Hi Mister Moneymaker,

It would be interesting to hear the provenance on this matched pair of figurines, which you are describing as "hand carved ivory".

Unfortunately, from the photos you have included, they don't look like they are hand carved, nor ivory.

Included below is a link to a website which explains how to identify ivory, and the various materials used to simulate ivory.

Perhaps if you spot some of those identifiers in your pieces you can include some photos of them, but I don't see any in the many photos you have uploaded.

That does not mean they have no value, it means that if they are not ivory you should determine what they are prior to attempting to sell them so that you don't have a problem develop later.

Some aspects are done quite well on these pieces, while there are some aspects which are way off. An example would be the Emperor's sword grip, which is horribly out of scale, as is the scabbard.

Another red flag can be seen in what appears as bead-like artifacts within the carvings (see photo), and spots where the mold did not fill in properly.

Take a close look at the Empress' right hand where she is holding the scrolls, to see how rough it appears, something a carver would not leave undone, also note the area around her right thumbnail. Also note that just below the right hand, the surface depicting the motif of the robe is very rough, where if carved it should be as smooth as the sleeve.

It is also important to remember that authentic ivory pieces of the quality these are attempting to portray would have been carefully rendered (to avoid insulting the Emperor) and most likely would have been signed by the carver.

These are a very nice pair of figurines which will be great decorator items on a mantle, but I don't see anything to indicate they are ivory, nor that they have much age.

Good luck
Gman







URL Title :Ivory Identification link

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