Featured Beautiful carved pin tray

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this very pretty carved ivory nude and onyx pin tray I bought at a yard sale this weekend. I cannot sell ivory, so it will stay with me. I wondered if it could be a carving by Ferdinand Preiss - he made many carved ivory nude figures but there is no signature. She's really small - about 2 1/2" high. The detail in the carving is beautiful. Such a lovely piece and I paid a dollar for it!

 

it lovely...but from here i'm having trouble seeing ivory....
such a mat finish.....that i've not seen on tusk...

can you give a closer shot ??

 

It is a flat surface, not shiny. Does ivory usually have a shine? The lines and cracks in the material is what makes me think it's ivory. I hope these photos show them. Thanks.

 

How is she attached to the base? With a screw through the bottom?

 

Yes, there's a brass threaded rod up thru her base.

 

strange to my eye.......still......kinda looks like wood from here...

 

can you safely unscrew her...........?
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( now there's something u don't hear everyday !!! )

 

Komo, you're a hoot!

If you can remove her from the base without causing damage, that would be great. As of right now, she looks like wood to me too.

 

When I tap it with my fingernail, it sounds like glassy ceramic. Here's a picture of the base where the rod is inserted.

 

So gorgeous!! What a lucky find!

 

Your photo of the base is somewhat helpful, but it needs to be closer and in better focus for us to see the necessary details. It she is ivory, you might be able to find the diagnostic schreger lines on the base, on the top surface of the base she is kneeling on, and/or on the top of her head.

 

Thank you NE...I leave it to someone else to determine what it is i'm seeing here....

I can't discount ivory tusk though...

 

She certainly has a grain running through her, I did look up "celuloide figure cracking" but nothing like this came up. If you look her arms have a lot of wear and seem more polished than the rest of her, probably through handling. In photo 1 the material seems to be disintegrating, next to her there are specks of white on the onyx. Normally ivory cracks but doesn't flake, I can't really tell though.

 

She is a beauty, NE, so lovely.
I tweaked your photo of the base a bit, and it looks like ivory to me. I also think I see ivory lines on the left (her head?). I don't mean Schreger lines, but the linear structure of ivory.

 

Thank you, AJ. And thanks to everyone else for your comments.

 

doesn't come up to the elegance of Preiss models, but Germany could be the right direction; base looks like serpentiite from Zöblitz.

 

Thank you, Fid.