tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982924932060917225.post3462016027403475587..comments2023-10-09T20:40:53.980-04:00Comments on Kovels Komments | Weekly eNewsletter about Antiques and Collectibles: COLLECTORS TIP FROM ONE OF OUR READERSAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09315614751727976326noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982924932060917225.post-68139380826580404182008-06-28T05:48:00.000-04:002008-06-28T05:48:00.000-04:00Many thanks for your kind and helpful notes about ...Many thanks for your kind and helpful notes about identifying bone and ivory. Seems to me that careful use of a stove burner would be far less invasive - and easier to do - than the hot needle piercing method. Again, thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982924932060917225.post-57927188404878548612008-06-27T22:03:00.000-04:002008-06-27T22:03:00.000-04:00I am wondering if it is so easy to tell why do the...I am wondering if it is so easy to tell why do the sites I find say that it is very hard to tell, and some fakes are mistaken for originals. We have an Ivory Tusk presumably Elephant, that is broken in three peices, and it is still hard to tell the differences. I even read where it is from a fake list, but I can not tell. I would have said it was original had it not been in the fake list. So I know from experience it is not easy to tell.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982924932060917225.post-74425501459574938092008-06-27T19:36:00.000-04:002008-06-27T19:36:00.000-04:00I have a much safer suggestion -- get your dentist...I have a much safer suggestion -- get your dentist to take an x-ray of it! Fakes will show no variation at all, while real ivory will show structural elements. Almost 30 years ago I bought a piece at a mall antique show. I called it scrimshaw, but the seller said "Well, I'm not sure what that is, I just know it's a whale's tooth" and wrote that on the receipt. I was uncertain about it -- my then-fiance thought of using the heated-needle trick, and then said "This is stupid - let's just x-ray it!" He was a senior in dental school. Sure enough -- no detail at all. The seller took it back with no hassle, I just told her I had dipped too far into my tuition money to buy it. Three years later I saw an identical model in the gift shop at Fanueil Hall, Boston -- with a copyright symbol and mfr. name in the base.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6982924932060917225.post-56327529582941321312008-06-27T15:39:00.000-04:002008-06-27T15:39:00.000-04:00OMG! PLEASE do not hold items thought to be of a...OMG! PLEASE do not hold items thought to be of any value whatsoever over a stove burner! That's a good way to get them cracked and/or otherwise damaged. The industry standard is to use a needle--sewing or pin even a safety pin and heat the point to near red heat then place it against the item in question in an inconspicuous place and with the nose at the ready--sniff the resulting emission. I had saved an email with the info on what the resulting smell would identify the item to be. Some gracious family member must have deleted it for me--so now I have to search the internet to find it again!---That's gonna be fun--it took a while to find it the first time. If anyone out there has the breakdown of the smells to identify the substance an item is composed of please em it to me too???Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com