Featured Vintage Tiny Resin Sculpture - Where? Is this Newer?

Riley tells me she was trying to help. She is a traditional Siamese or what they are calling nowadays a Thai cat. More like what Siamese used to be like before they made them fancy with pointy noses and lots of colors. She is smart, calm, playful and loving. Also she loves having her photo taken. I have hundreds. She lays down across the front to the light box, so I don't miss getting a snapshot.

 

I see lines

 

I’ll have to look again. Thank you.

 

I do like a proper Siamese. The breed has been got at so much that they have spindle legs and look all wrong. Riley is a very fine girl.

 

Yes. In my estimation, they ruined a fine breed with exaggerated shapes. With the body changes, they also breed out the personality. If I remember correctly, it was in England where the Europeans and Americans were introduced to the cat from Thailand.

 

I adore cats, obvs, but I don't approve of some of the breeds. Ragdolls can't defend themselves. And Sphynx! Poor cold things. They've not yet got at Wegies or Maines too much thankfully. Or Birmans.

The Bear was a Wegie.

 

IIRC, my sister in law has/had one that was on a black painted wood base with a similar carved style and similar size. I think some family member brought it back from Hawaii decades ago. Lots of Japanese in Hawaii. I don't think it was ivory, but certainly had the same appearance.

 

I would suspect bone as the material, although difficult to tell on such a small piece and photos alone.

 

Gotcha. Thanks for weighing in. I love it anyway.

 

Very interesting. This is an important clue for research. I never thought it was fine antique carving but know there is another out there because of the stand.

 

Looks carved to me. This would be a large piece of material if bone & I see none of the usual indicators of that material. It's a small piece if taken from a tusk, &, if the interior was used with none of the outer layer, you are not going to see pronounced lines. Try the tooth test on it, as for pearls. Is there a graininess? Or slick, like resin?

The spire looks to me like the top of a Buddhist stupa.

 

Wegies. That's one big, beautiful cat. I've fondled up a few Maines before, but never a Wegie. I'm afraid they would be too warm, where I live with all that gorgeous fur.

 

Interesting. @kentworld says his family got theirs in Hawaii, but I suppose a carver could get material from anywhere. Sorry, I can't do the tooth test, as I have veneers on my front teeth. It feels like the walrus scrimshaw that I have but my fingers aren't sensitive enough to tell anything else.



Stupa. That puts it back in Buddhist territory.

 

Pagodas are traditional in China as well as Japan (and some other Asian countries).

In your 9th photo, with the closeup of the buffalo, the interior of the carving looks to be quite porous, with many small pits. Is this true, or just dirt, or some other artifact of the photo?

You provided height and length, but how thick/deep is it?

 

Not sure I know what veneer means in the context of teeth, but mine are virtually all crowns, including top & bottom front teeth, & I can still detect the difference between natural & man made materials most of the time.

Typically I'll try the material I think is natural first, if will feel very smooth & I will begin to doubt. Then I make the comparison with something that looks similar but that I know to be plastic or glass & realize that by comparison the first item feels rough. I 'nibble' many things, not only pearls. Coral, for instance.

When you say it feels like the scrimshaw, do you mean to your fingers? Try the tooth test on the walrus, the carving under discussion & any knick knack or jewellery with an ivory look you can grab & see what your veneered teeth tell you. Nothing to lose after all, except maybe the trust of the proprietor if you have to find a comparison in a shop. Also, see how it behaves in UV light.

 

@KikoBlueEyes - This is totally off topic but hopefully you & your kitties are not being affected by this horrible weather that is hitting California.

 

Riley loves the water, and both, she and Cosette will go out in the rain. They have a large, enclosed back yard to zoom around in and trees to hide under. I have a very funny video of Riley dancing her water bowl I wish I could upload.

 

I wash it up and see if that is dirt.

 

Going out in the rain is one thing but going out in hurricane-force winds is a whole 'nother ballgame.

 

My teeth became insensate when I first had veneers put on them 35 years ago. I can't feel texture. I don't know why.
Since the sale of ivory has become forbidden, I have had several pieces given to me. If my teeth felt something, I would have some small pieces to compare.