Superimposed load Torador query
 

Hi I am curious as to what the small decorative panels covering the stock of this Torador are made of. About the only thing I can think of is dyed horn, I suspect it is not dyed ivory, but I have not seen this before.
Any help much appreciated.

Hello Adrian,

Bone, stag, or ivory are the most likely contenders.

It might well be ivory - search for panels exhibiting Schreger lines!

We need better (sharp) close-ups, especially of imperfect/damaged panels.

Regards,
Kai

Hi

IVORY for sure
You are rich now!
Could you post some photos of the whole gun?
And details of the pans, trigger or triggers and the muzzle?

Thanks

Yes please post pics of the whole thing before anyone else posts replies.

More close ups etc below. There is just the single trigger. It has one serpentine and the other is missing, the slot it operated from is evident.

It is in a large collection of antique Ethnographic arms, many of which are high quality, but the barrel etc on this gun is pretty ordinary.

Are you sure it is Ivory?

It has an almost “ plastic” unifortmity.
I would do a hot needle test just to be sure.
The upper left corner in the second pic from the bottom seems to show some burnt areas.

I've just tried a red hot wire, it doesn't melt the material on the gun, just leaves a tiny char dot. I applied the same wire to hard plastic (a tape measure case) & it melted straight in & raised smoked.

So the gun's material is not plastic.....

oops double post

It looks to be bone.

Ok I have to explain why I think it's ivory.

All the Indian power flasks made that way, are made of ivory;

but most of them are decorative objects, not even with a hole to pour the powder.

Many Indian toradors made of mother-of-pearl are late 19th or early 20th and they are just decorative.

It's the reason why I think that this torador is made of ivory but just as a decorative item from 1900.

Sometimes they use old barrels, so I was intrigued to see more of this gun...


:shrug:

This is certainly not ivory. But I don't think this is any kind of plastic. In my opinion, these are small plates of bone from a camel's leg. And yes, most likely the decor was made in the early 20th century.

The material reminds me of a mirror frame we had from Morocco inlaid with.. camel bone.
No indications of ivory at all imho.
No schreger lines and the yellow colour would indicate a long storage in the dark in case of ivory, but even than ivory does not tend to become this yellow almost orange.

I go for the camel bone.

Thank you everyone, I think camel bone is the most likely from the discussions so far. I googled 'dyed stabilised camel bone' and that does look the same on some images.

Not ivory for sure. If it passed the hot wire test, it is going to be bone: camel, buffalo ( not cow, we are talking about India:-), horse. Even elephant or hippo.

I am now reading “Career of evil” by Robert Galbraith ( in reality J. K. Rowling of the Harry Potter fame), a third installment in a marvelous series. It starts with an amputated human leg. That will also do, in a macabre way.

Well, did it give you willies? :-)))