Posted 12 years ago
Luisa
(54 items)
My latest mystery; what looks to be a fondue pick, or shrimp fork? It is chipped under one eye and on top of the head, so I felt okay doing a "smell test" with a hot needle, and it smelled organic, like hair, that's why I concluded tortoiseshell over resin, or bakelite. Looks hand carved, maybe Tahitian or some sort of tribal face? It was sold on it's own, with no trace of any other similar objects nearby.
Any thoughts on where it came from? or what purpose it served?
I agree that this is a great mystery! I have never seen one of these. The material is luxurious to us today, but I wonder if it is old, from some island culture in which tortoiseshell was an 'available' resource. I have never seen anything like it, and cannot imagine what the fork was used for. Looks a little big for shellfish....Can't wait to see what some of the others say about this fascinating fork. miKKo
me too! I hope some one has seen it before !!! Thanks for the love Mikkochristmas!!
Thanks for the idea Rob in Hawaii, the design definitely looks like that's a possibility!