Figurine origin?

Hi everybody. I just bought these at a garage sale. They look quite old. Does anyone have further information?

 

They look Chinese, perhaps chess pieces (how big are they)? They are cast out of resin, and look pretty modern to me.

 

As above. Recent cast resin decorative items from China.

Debora

 

The way you can tell resin is to look to see if there are any popped bubbles leaving small holes in the piece. I looked at yours and saw some, but you should look yourself. Resin indicates newer.

 

Ok thanks. They are 2.2lbs and 9.1 inches tall.

 

Okay, so not chess - but everything else said in this thread applies

 

Welcome Jack.

They are made to look old. They are resin, as the others said.
The bubble holes Kiko mentioned are an excellent way to determine the material as resin, as are the lines on the base.
Having said that, these are better quality resin copies, and they should fetch a nice price if you want to sell them.

 

You could become exhausted hauling pieces of this size around the board, so I think you are right but they had that look.

 

Thanks all. What would be the value? I paid $100 for both. The previous owner told me they are at least 40yrs old.

 

We generally don't value items here, but you can look on ebay. Search term something like pair of figurines of Chinese emperor, or substitute emperor for mandarin.
I think it would be about what you paid, but you could be lucky. I hope you are.
At least 40 years old is not very old, btw.

 

I'd say they could be up to perhaps 40-50 years old, but probably newer. Unfortunately this is the kind of thing I see regularly in thrift stores for perhaps 10-20$ a piece? If you bought them because you enjoy the artistic/decorative value - there's nothing wrong with the price you paid. If you bought them thinking they were an investment in something old/antique - you're out of luck on that front.

 

https://www.google.com/search?clien...&ved=0ahUKEwikopL086XkAhWJneAKHbY4BPoQ4dUDCAY

 

Here's a pair similar to yours that sold on Ebay for US $75.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Carved-Emp...491414?hash=item2f2e043856:g:ziIAAOSwC8ZcmTx1

 

I would expect some scuffs on the bottom after 40 years. These look pretty pristine

 

It is pretty hardy stuff. A friend gave me a resin 'okimono' ca 1980, and the base still looks like that.

But as I said, 40 years is not very old. It won't add to the value.

 

Thanks. Most of my older pieces have scuffs, but they are glass and stone, so I just assumed. Resin - hardier, got it,