Identification of Indian or African ivory object.

[TomHurstAntiques]

This is 10.5cm tall and has a lot of age. I assume the holes are for looping through string. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TomHurstAntiques]

Any Ideas?

[M ELEY]

A total guess. Could it possibly be an Inuit harpoon rest (inside the canoe?). The ivory walrus tusk? :shrug:

[Battara]

The ivory looks like elephant ivory to me with the concentric rings in the middle, no marbling, and the cross hatching.

I would think that this is African.

[Sajen]

The ivory looks like elephant ivory to me with the concentric rings in the middle, no marbling, and the cross hatching.

I would think that this is African.

Or Asian? :shrug:

[Helleri]

Given the oval shape, lengthwise ostrodentine voiding cracks that interupt the dentine and present as radial cracks in cross section, the small dots of cementum at the core, that appear to go all the way through. And the inferred dimensions of the piece (from the one given dimension)... I'm fairly confident that this is walrus tusk ivory.

However I do not believe this to be Inuit in origin as almost all inuit ivory implements I've seen have exposed dowel holes where dowel holes are present (they don't appear on the flat part that marries to another piece as shown here. But are the visible outside of a pieces surface).

[Battara]

I don’t see any marbling that I usually see with walrus tusk.......🤔

[Battara]

Asian elephant could be a possibility.

[Philip]

Asian elephant could be a possibility.


Definitely ellyfunt. The pattern of checking in the material suggests it strongly.
Whether Asian or African bears closer scrutiny. The way those age cracks run, we can rule out walrus.

[Richard Furrer]

https://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php
Not Walrus to be sure. As Philip said..telling Asian Elephant from African ...trickier.

[Sajen]

As Philip said..telling Asian Elephant from African ...trickier.

I think this is nearly impossible! And it don't will shed light on the origin of the object. Many antique sculptured Asian ivory is from African elephants IMHO.

[Rick]

The architect Mies van de Rohe's quote "Less is more." may apply here.
It looks like it has been drilled to be strung on each side the same way netsuke are.
It's a lovely and powerful form in and of itself; possibly it was made to be worn. :shrug: