Anglo Indian Tortious Shell Ivory Trinket Box

I found this today a flea market. I'm not convinced its late 19th and early 20th century like others on the internet claim. Maybe 1930-40. The seller had no clue what it was. I do think the materials are real.

 

It looks like very chunky ivory if it is real.

 

Take a look at this thread:
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/anglo-indian-box.3542/

 

Very nice!

 

The white "ivory-like" stuff is something other than ivory IMO. The shapes, how it is fastened and used on the item aren't quite right for real ivory. Real ivory has Schrager lines in it-check with a loupe. Good it is probably not ivory since if it were you'd have difficulty selling it publicly.

 

To me it doesn't look like ivory, that's why I got suspicious. It looks very crudely done and quite thick. Ivory is expensive stuff. They would've carved it as thin as possible (which is pretty damn thin) to keep costs down.

 

Could it be celluloid?

 

The photos aren't good enough for me to tell, but I'd suspect so. Celluloid is often used as a substitute for ivory. One way to tell is the infamous 'hot needle' test. But Celluloid is notoriously flammable. One wrong move and that whole box will explode.

If I had it in front of me I'd be able to tell, but judging from the photos, I'd say it's celluloid. It just looks too crude and chunky to be ivory. And it's definitely not any bone I've ever seen.

 

Smells like vinegar too no? Doesn't celluloid have lines in it as well?
Sticky too if old?

 

I think you have the real thing in both tortoise shell and ivory.
Your thoughts on 1930s seem to agree with the Christies' auction.

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/...veneered-box-vizagapatam-5604337-details.aspx

 

I had one exactly like this,and when I bought it I was told it was "scrimshaw" box made in the early 1900s ! Of course,it wasn't. I will add that the fretwork on mine broke during a move,and it wasn't plastic,but what it is I couldn't tell you. This one isn't nearly as nice as the examples shown,in my humble opinion.

 

This is getting interesting. The Christie's item has Phillips screws which although patented in 1936 were only used in the auto industry at first-I'm thinking they really didn't get into general worldwide use until late 1940s or 50s. Since Christie's seems to have missed on the dating, wonder what else they missed?

 

The raised liner may mean it was made as a humidor.

 

OP didn't give measurements ,but mine was small,maybe 4x6 inches.

 

Mine is small. About 3" long, 2" tall, and 2" wide.

 

That's about right for the regular no-filter 2 3/4 inch cigarettes, so musta been made as a table-top cigarette box.

 

It looks to me like the fasteners on the Christie's box have a domed textured surface, not the grooves I'm used to seeing on Phillips-head screws. Or am I missing something?

 

Ah, that's probably why the veneers look too thick to be ivory in the photos, since everything's blown up and looks larger.

It looks so much like the Christie's box that I bet it is the same materials, from the same time period and origin.

 

Hi Pat,
Thanks, I was beginning to think there were photos that I could not see. Those are domed nailheads not screws.
greg

 

Not that it matters much but the screw heads on the Christie's item are dirty or corroded and a little hard to see clearly but the ones with arrows seemed to me to have the distinctive "x" pattern indicating a Phillips screw.



https://springfieldarsenal.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/phillips.jpg