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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;2manybooks, post: 395966, member: 8267&quot;]Acknowledging the limitations of examination through photographs, I believe it is ivory. Elephant tusk can develop cracks along its length, similar to bone. The distinctive cross hatching on ivory is often difficult to find - it will be apparent on surfaces that are cross sections of the original tusk. Look carefully at all surfaces of the carving. There is no bone in a typical animal skeleton that could yield a solid ball such as the head of this piece. The largest bones are either flat (like a scapula) or hollow (like the shaft of a femur). The head of a femur is also not as dense as ivory. It is difficult to get as high a polish on bone as ivory. Most bone, if examined under magnification, will show tiny pores for the blood vessels that originally fed it.</p><p>With that said, there is also the possibility that it is cast resin, which would show none of these characteristics.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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