Posted 9 years ago
Ceci
(29 items)
I showed this to an Asian woman and collector today and she said the ridges that look like mold seams could be carved to give the beads texture. She felt they looked old and the leather string was old but said they needed to be looked at by an expert. She thought they could be rhino. I forgot to ask her what kind of expert. A jeweller? I still hope they are fake and then I could enjoy them.
Carved seams. I think she's full of soup.
Rhino horn is made of keratin, the same as your fingernails. If you have a very strong halogen light, see if the light will penetrate the large pendant. Genuine rhino horn is translucent.
More info here:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6162
I think she is full of soup too although she did offer to buy it. Yes the light shines through but it also shines through some resins. The weird thing about the seams according to my hubby is that each bead is a bit different. There are also 110 small round beads instead of 108. I tried to find fake rhino prayer beads online but could not. Thanks Efesgirl for your help. The fun for me is the research.
Welcome! The research is also fun for me. I also didn't find prayer beads but did find necklaces. Did she offer you a small price or a big price?
Hi Efesgirl. She offered me $200 Canadian Dollars. I am sure they are a resin of some sort but would just like to know 100 percent for sure.
Comment from the peanut gallery: Translucence is not a criteria for molded resins/compositions. They can be found as anything from completely opaque to very translucent and in a wide variety of colors.
i downloaded all four photos, adjusted contrast, sharpness, and brightness. Under much enlargement they appear to have been worked (tooled) rather than cast. The variety of color, grain, and surface imperfections is not what one would expect from molded resin. I believe this is worked horn, but I can be proven wrong by the following:
Using pliers, force the eye end of a large needle into a wine cork. Using a candle heat the point of the needle to a red heat. Apply the tip with some force against the material where it will not show. Examine with a good magnifier. Resin will be penetrated and may leave a small crater surrounding the hole. Stone, ivory, bone, horn, and most thermoplastics (eg. Bakelite) will not be marked.
wexval, you're hardly in the peanut gallery, lol! I have learned something from you today, so thank you! :-D
Ha! That's what I call the "RHPP" test (red hot pin poke).
Chinese are crazy about rhino horn pieces. Some years ago, they even sold bangles or cups or statues in that fibrous material, claiming it was natural horn of "some sort".
For now I only saw these on live auctioneer, with no other origin provided...
I bet the test will give a chemical smell!
Ox horn or rhino horn are keratin and would smell as burned hair.
Posted it on an Asian web site. Beads are either spun or carved and they felt these are spun and that creates a line. It was suggested we dip them in boiling water instead of melting to check smell. We did that and it smells earthy like hair...best described as wet dog smell. Telling what kind of horn is difficult. A second person has offered to buy them. I will take them to a museum and have them look at them. Thanks for all of your info Wexval. I learned a lot too. One Asian man sent pictures of his rhino beads and he felt mine looked just like his. His had the big disk on the end too. The mystery continues. Thanks Efesgirl and kyratango.
Kyra, The Red Hot Pin Poke? I love it!
Thank you Allie for keeping us informed of your further researches, it is a very interesting mystery, as I love them :-)
I will be interested to see how this plays out. From what I saw on the net, certain fake rhino horn jewelry commands some big prices, too.
Found this interesting link to what rhino horn looks like in macro photo:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6162
Kyratango that is very helpful. Thanks for the link.
Oooh! Sorry Bonnie, I even not notice you gave this exact link in comment #1
:-/