If the material is ivory it is probably sourced from old bride price ivory used in the eastern islands.
However.
A few weeks ago in Solo I saw quite a lot of exactly similar hilts that had been made from cunningly cut and joined bone, I was told "fish bone" and "shark bone" but I don't know what it was, except it was bone, and very, very skilfully joined. I needed to use a loupe to find the joins on most pieces.
The patination was as good or better than what I'm looking at in these pics, and the carving was considerably better.
In the hand they were difficult to differentiate from ivory; in a photo they would have been impossible to differentiate from ivory.
I know where they were carved, I know the name and address of the carver, I know where most of them were going.
Prospective purchasers of this type of thing should tread very carefully.
|