SPOTTING FAKE IVORY

From the book, "Confident Collector," edited by John Bly in 1986

"To tell fake from genuine you need some familiarity with the materials from which authentic pieces were made. Faint longitudinal stripes are a sure guide to identifying the simulated ivories that appeared at the turn of the century with the stripes built into them. If a suspect ivory is held near a light source so that the stripes are visible and then revolved slowly horizontally through 90 degrees, the light and dark stripes on genuine ivory will become less pronounced or disappear. On the simulation, they will be visible at any angle.

“The color of these simulations is also revealing: they are not stained, but an even white all over- too white. The forgeries made about 1900 are in from casein (made from milk).

(Ivoryhound note: did you know netsuke were faked as early as 1900?)

“Since the mid-1970’s large numbers of deceptive netsuke and okimono have been produced by casting in plastic resin using a flexible mold. These are taken directly from originals. After casting they are stained in a deep sepia, which is thinner on the proud surfaces and gives a realistic impression of wear. They can be found frequently with the lower portions retaining portions of dust suggesting that they have come from an old neglected collection. In fact dust is blown into the interstices from the wrong end of a vacuum-cleaner as part of the finishing."

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