Are These Ivory Netsukes???

I STAND corrected! Besides, I don't get mad at members!!!!

 

if they are ivory..........selling will be tough.......many laws....none of them gods...

My 1st thought was tourist carvings......when u see many...all the same....but these do deserve some more research...

on 2nd look....bone is starting seem most likely...imo

 

Hmm ok, I get your point about tourists carvings, and the repetition.. And Netsukes I have read were done by real artisans would would have died at the thought of using their valuable time to create the same work over and over.. I read they cherished each piece created as they had so much time to devote to each piece.

I am not sure what else I can research on them. I'd certainly not find the same ones online anywhere..

I have done a REVERSE IMAGE SEARCH
https://tineye.com/search
which you upload a pic of your item and it searches the google database.

The only thing that come up was wedding cakes!

 

Where did you get the idea these are ivory? I see no evidence of it. The ones sliced down the middle look like wood. The ones that were not sliced look like resin.

 

They look like bone to me. I don't see ivory at all.

 

They are not NW Coast native, or any kind of Native American, if that was being suggested as a possibility. I'd think bone; and can't help adding that there has been a cottage industry in Indonesia since the 1960s producing thousands of bone carvings, many with NW Coast or Alaskan themes, and also including designs originally from Ethiopia, the Maori, Egypt...if a hippy could put it on a necklace in 1965, you will find many of them today placed in a lovely framed collection, sometimes with a nice label such as "Eskimo carvings."
The Indonesian industry has expertise in making them look old, and also uses a technique of "tea-staining" in which the new white carvings are placed in tea, briefly for a light brown, longer for dark.
And I mention that because a collection of fake Indonesian "Eskimo" carvings will contain a number of pieces which are all nearly identical, except that some are white, others light brown, and some of the same design in dark brown. Your collection exhibits that same kind of similarity, and I strongly suspect that these are products of the Indonesian bead industry.
Such items were originally sold as pendants to the beading trade; and you'll find them in beading-supply shops all over the world. One could google "bone pendant beading" or such - and if you find identical items in one of their online catalogs, you'll have your answer. A collection of "Eskimo" carvings, you'll see what I mean:

 

What I'm saying is, it is wrong to assume that carvings like these are not likely being sold in bags of 50 for pennies apiece, even though they are hand-carved. If they were "real" from any culture, you would not find so many of them all together, in all shades of white and brown.....
But that is 100% a sign of them being sold to the bead-shops, likely originating in the Indonesian export industry.
Sorry to be blunt, but that is what it looks like to me.

 

@all_fakes Thanks for your insight! So most likely bone then? The hollow rounded cavity in the middle would suggest where the marrow was?

So what we saying... £30 each then?

 

30 pounds?? You have to be kidding. Sorry to be blunt but all fakes was telling you they are cheap not expensive.

 

The assortment pictured in my post #26 could be purchased from a bead-dealer online or in person for around $20 to $25 US, total. $1 or $2 each.
Listed on ebay and represented as genuine old Eskimo carvings, a seller might be asking $80 to $200 total - but would not find any bidders, except perhaps among the naive.
Just as a side-note, there are many ebay sellers who routinely list such things for the high price mentioned, week after week, never finding any bidders; just in the hope apparently that someday somebody new will come along and be misled into bidding.
A strange business model, if you ask me.

 

I believe that 30.....was indeed said tongue in cheek.....
and not per say, an actual question !!!!

 

100%!

 

They look great amongst all my silver... I am actually selling all of this now. To go towards a new boat fund. I wanted to keep adding to it, but it's counter intuitive if I am wanting to buy a sailing yacht!
Great forum, I will continue on here as seems like lot of knowledgeable members willing to share their knowledge!

 

nice box full of nummy num nums.....

 

I'm no expert, but netsukes they ain't. Southern Pacific islands somewhere from the looks of them, just don't ask me which one. I can't see what they're made from on this end. FWIW I've never seen a piece of ivory hollowed out like that. Bone yes ivory no. But there's always a first time.

 

I just gotta say.....normally skull themed items do not appeal to me, but that skull themed thing in the box just above the watch, for some reason, I find interesting and cool.

 

Nummy num nums! I like it.

Do you mean the long cylinder type object? If so it's a Victorian chatelain, 925 silver with what is either bone or something else. It has a loop on it, with a strangely infinitely rotating belvel.

 

Yes having now extensively researched Netsukes I can now clarify Netsukes they aint... However along my journey I discovered Inro! Oh dear, I could easily collect those beautiful objects! Such grace, and craftsmanship! If I want a boat I better forget about it, as my obsessive compulsive disorder will ruin me!

 

get a canoe......& keep collecting !!!

 

I am buying a sailing yacht, so I can start collecting more experiences / memories