Posted By: Gman
Posted Date: Dec 12, 2007 (11:52 PM)
Hi Doug,
These resin polymer figurines are very nice as accent pieces, but like anything else that is made to look like something genuine, they can be a problem if mis-represented by a salesman.
As out of focus and grainy as your photos are, it won't do for me to try to list all of the reasons I think the statue is not made from ivory.
However a few of the quick ones would be the mold inconsistantcies (see the woman's comb at the very top) , the dull surface, and the irregular shape of the bottom of the statue, which should be very round or oval shaped.(see attached comparisons)
It will be better for you to search around on-line for photos of genuine ivory, and from there in person you can look at your statue and see what needs to be seen.
As I mentioned, you should see graining to the ivory which is called "Schreger lines", and also true ivory is generally found to be very shiny, whereas your piece appears to be quite dull which is usually the case with polymer resins.
As with many of these types of statues, the carvings are not sharp, and the details are a bit over-embellished, and at the same time lacking in detail cosistantcy.
I have included a couple of photos of a real ivory piece, and besides the shiny finish, and the Schreger lines, you will notice the carvings are all very sharp and precise, and the base is uniformly rounded. More points to compare to yours.
I will say that I like your statue a lot, and that I enjoy nicely done faux ivory statues for what they are, and they look great up on a fireplace mantle.
I have also included a link to a website which explains how to tell ivory from bone and plastic.
If you find that it is not ivory when it was supposed to be, you should probably attempt to get your money back. If you bought it at a reasonably low price, and it is worth that price to you as is, it is a nice piece.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Gman
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