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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;all_fakes, post: 1225313, member: 55&quot;]Apology in advance for rambling post.</p><p>As Komo and AJ mention there are signs to look for, pointing to origin.&nbsp;&nbsp; I can also add some details based on experience.&nbsp; I became interested in a rash of small bone carvings appearing on ebay starting around 2004.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; I was alerted to possible sources by a person at an Allard auction, where there was a Riker frame of 30 or so small carvings, with a bone plaque-label &quot;Eskimo carvings.&quot;</p><p>Noting my interest she asked if I realized they were fakes - and that I should check out the online catalogs of bead-dealers.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; Indeed, I soon found online a number of bead importers whose catalogs were very specific, including countries of origin.&nbsp; These small carvings were from Indonesia, imported as pendants for use in the beading hobby; representing turtles, fish, Eskimo and other native themes.</p><p>$1 each, in bulk.&nbsp; Also a number of hairpins, single and double-shaft, with similar themes. I&#039;ve self-published a small booklet on these items; not cost-effective, due to the cost of adding color photos....but I&#039;ve sold a few. </p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; I bought some of the items, and experimented with putting some of the white ones in tea.&nbsp; Interesting, and very recognizable results. </p><p>I also bought some similar bone fish, new/old stock, from a bead-store that went out of business in the late 1960s....these carvings have been around since then, because hippies would use beads from any culture, and happily added African, Eskimo, Native, Maori...you name it...to their necklaces.&nbsp; And starting that long ago, there were people making copies of African and Eskimo themed items, in Indonesia.&nbsp; I don&#039;t mean to offend any Indonesians; it is just that that was verifiable as the origin of these items.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; The online catalogs are harder to find now; but their items are quite easy to recognize, once you&#039;ve seen several hundred.</p><p>There is also an interesting story about how the US fish and Game folks raided an Indonesian exporter, in 2005, finding both carvings made illegally from marine ivory, and thousands of these small bone carvings - which they auctioned off, since they were otherwise legal.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; I&#039;ve got a bunch of photos of some of these, somewhere...</p><p>But there is no question that OPs item is one of these.</p><p>I&#039;ll also add that in Komo&#039;s link there is a mention &quot;frame not included&quot; in the auction showing the hairpins; relevant because for many years, as now, one would find these small imported carvings grouped in Riker frames; such a common event that I&#039;d suggest that any small bone carvings found in a Riker frame are almost certain to be fakes.</p><p>You can also look closely at the incised lines; made with a motorized tool, like Dremel Moto-tool; you&#039;ll find semi-circular cross-sections to the lines; and this is relevant if the item is being sold as &quot;Eskimo, circa 1890&quot; as one will find sometimes.....Eskimos did not use Moto-tools in 1890.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a link with some info (for information only, not an offer to sell anything); most of the info applies to hairpins as well as to the carved pendants:&nbsp; <a href="http://bluemando.homestead.com/fakes.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://bluemando.homestead.com/fakes.html" rel="nofollow">http://bluemando.homestead.com/fakes.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]215132[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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