Featured Asian style Tiger cane topper? Bone? Ivory?

Tipu'sTiger:

 

i would like to magnified image so that I can see the bone structure with all its characteristics. these photos give me - as a layman - insufficient information.

 

Then as a layman, you'll just have to trust the eyes and experience of folks who have been dealing in & with older ivory for 30 years or more..............

Or not.............

I find the pic I said to click on....magnified enuf...

 

i'm not questioning your experience. i'm only try to learn and better understand. Becasue i have trouble to determine te differences between the syntetic one with the real one, and i think im not the only one

 

no better teacher than having examples in your hand.......
but here, that's just not possible...

I said...of folks............not.......of Me...........so i'm not making or taking this personal...

 

thank god... it's just the curiosity and the will to learn why i'm asking so much

 

The other question is where are the other parts? It is too small to be a "cane topper",maybe it's missing the other 80% of it's body.

 

it's small, but not unduly so....imo...

the base is cut to fit into...or on top of....something....

 

https://www.realorrepro.com/article...o identifying,they cross form Schreger Angles.



https://manual.museum.wa.gov.au/book/export/html/63



http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showpost.php?p=119987&postcount=15



http://beadcollector.net/cgi-bin/an...d=get&cG=7393236393&zu=3739323538&v=2&gV=0&p=



https://twitter.com/curatorclare/status/932992123955183618



https://www.etsy.com/listing/113414...wYUFVcGNLdWxYR19aVmszcXFiUSZ0PUFBQUFBRjlhZHFz


https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1065504

 

thank you for sharing this @2manybooks. very nice pics

 

I have lots of ivory from India and none has "schreger lines"

 

All elephant ivory has the structures that appear as schreger lines - it is the way it grows, and is a unique characteristic of elephant ivory. But it is not always easy to see them on an object, depending on what surfaces are visible and how the surface has been finished. Sometimes you have to examine carefully, tipping the object in the light. It is one of those cases where you can't exclude elephant ivory if you can't find schreger lines, but if you can find genuine schreger lines then you can be confident that the object is elephant ivory.

 

These are just a few examples of antique ivory I own that have no schreger lines at all. The theory must be incorrect or they are only visible on new ivory.

 

As you can see all of these are antique.

 

BTW it seems as though all the pieces of ivory you posted are new and African not antique and Indian

 

@808 raver -
The examples you have shown are of thin slices of ivory cut along the length of the tusk, exposing tangential surfaces, highly polished. These are the least likely to show visible schreger lines. Have you examined the edges of these pieces under magnification? Schreger lines are most visible on surfaces that would be cross sections of the original tusk - in your pieces this would be on the edges of the panels. The phenomenon is not restricted to modern ivory. Schreger lines are visible on mammoth ivory as well. In fact the difference in the angles of intersection can be used to distinguish ancient mammoth ivory from more recent elephant ivory. All modern species of elephant, African and Asian, demonstrate schreger lines.

As I noted, absence of readily visible schreger lines does not prove an object is not ivory, but their presence is indicative of elephant ivory. The examples I chose to post were selected to illustrate the phenomenon for those just learning to identify them.

Here is an article on "IDENTIFICATION AND DIFFERENTIATION OF THE ASIAN
ELEPHANT IVORY BY USING SCHREGER LINES" -
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._ASIAN_ELEPHANT_IVORY_BY_USING_SCHREGER_LINES

21 tusks of Asian elephants were studied. The conclusion was that: "The
Schreger lines were present in all studied samples. Thus, it is concluded that the presence of Schreger line is the identifying feature of an elephant tusk."

 

You should be able to see the lines on the bottom of the feet.The outside layer is plainly visible and maybe the Schreger lines have been bleached by some process.

 

Ok I've just studied my 200 year old Canton puzzles, I don't have a close up photo but there are no Schreger lines, and if what you say is correct then they should be visible on these. Half way down the page sitting on a ebony writing slope.
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/uk-to-ban-ivory.26227/page-2#post-351101
If your trying to determine if a piece is ivory the last thing you want to do is look for Schreger lines because many items won't have visible evidence.

 

Which is what I have said - absence of easily visible schreger lines does not mean an object is not ivory, but if you do see them it is a positive indicator of ivory. For those who can see them it is an easy way to confirm an object is ivory.

This is a card case that @cxgirl recently posted here. Faint schreger lines are visible on the edge of the small panel in the center:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/card-case-ivory.53414/#post-2707597

I don't know why you cannot see them on a cross section of genuine ivory, unless perhaps it has been bleached as @Hollyblue has suggested. If you cannot see them on a cross section, the conclusion should be that you are not looking closely enough, the ivory has been treated to minimize their appearance, or your object may not be elephant ivory.

Unless you have a unique source of mutant elephants, the structures that appear as schreger lines are present in all genuine elephant tusks, whether you can see them or not. This is not just my opinion. While I have handled a great many ivory objects, I have also studied the scientific literature on the physical structure of natural materials. Have you read the article I provided a link to? I can provide more if you want to explore the topic further.

 

I'm sorry but we will have to agree to disagree, I have looked on many of my ivory pieces and shown close ups as proof, at some level (maybe using a microscope) they may be visible but on all of my pieces I can't see one example. This clearly demonstrates using schreger lines as a way of proving a item is ivory is hit and miss at best, in my case (on many items) is a miss in every case.