Old Carved Ox Bone Figurines Help

[KevinM]

I purchased these 3 carved figurines this past week from a thrift store and I'm trying to find out more information about them. I've done a lot of internet searches to find ones like them but have not been able to locate any. I think they are carved from Ox Bone and the base they stand on seems to be made out of balsa wood or cork since the wood seems very light and airy although it could be some other type of wood that is very dried out. The heads on all 3 figures can be rotated to the left and right direction. All 3 have separately carved pieces that are attached perhaps with some type of metal and or wood pins.

The figurines appear to be from somewhere in Asia, perhaps Chinese or Japanese or maybe they are Polynesian. They seem to liken that of an Emperor, Empress and possibly a Wise Man, Servant or Medicine Man or someone else. They stand about 12 Inches (Emperor), 11 Inches (Empress) and 10 1/2 Inches (Wise Man, Servant or Medicine Man) tall without the base. They are all about 2 Inches Wide at their widest point. The tallest one weights about 1 pound and the other 2 a little less than that. There are no maker markings on any of them that I can find.

What I would like to know is where they might have been made, who made them, what time period they were made and if possible an approximate value.

Thanks!
Kevin

[JoshandLila]

can you show a close up of the hardware on the arms?

[KevinM]

JoshandLila, I've include some closeup pictures of different areas of all 3 statues (figurines). The top 2 circles on the upper arms of all 3 statues are pins, all the other circles on the figurines are decoration and not pins. I tested all the pins with a magnet and they are not magnetic so they are probably wood or bone pins.

Also, if you notice on the top view pictures you can see the pitted bone marrow still inside the bones. I assume the bones are from an Ox or Water Buffalo. The figures of the Emperor and Empress seem to go together as a pair and the Man with the hat may have been obtained or made at another time. Although, the pins in the arm of the Emperor seem to be different with a dot in the center and the arm pins on the Empress and the Man with the hat don't have a dot in them.

The base on all 3 of the statues I think are made of balsa wood. What would the time period be for that hat the man is wearing? Also, what may be the time period for what the Emperor and Empress are wearing on their heads?

Thanks,
Kevin

[KC]

Chinese or Thai. Depicting Royalty on the first two.  Farmer.   Are yours similar to these?  Do believe they are older pieces.

http://www.rubylane.com/item/708395-CH-2086/Unusual-Very-Chinese-Hand-Carved

http://www.eliteauction.com/catalogues/121011/view.php?id=202   Item 202

[KevinM]

Wow KC, Thanks A Lot!!! You Found multiple references to them! I don't know how you found the references, I looked a long time but came up empty.

According to the references they may be from the 1800's or perhaps 1700's. If mine are of the same period it looks like they may be worth upwards of up to $600 on a good day for the royalty pair. The question would be if they are of the same period or perhaps newer/older. Also, mine have the stands with them although they may not be original. Would the stands increase the value much if they were original?

To find out if mine are from that same period or newer/older it may take an expert to be able to know although I suspect they are close to the ones you found. It would also probably take an expert to know if the Farmer is of the same period and valued at about the same price for 1 royalty figure if he were in good condition.

The Farmer does look like he's missing a piece (perhaps a tool/farm equipment) from the hole in the piece attached to the right side of his body and this would affect the value. He also has some decay it looks like to the bottom portion of him and on the bottom left attached piece.

Thanks Again for finding this information KC!
Kevin

[mart]

What thrift store do you shop at ??  You find some of the most unusual things !!

[KevinM]

mart, I like the unusual! Without specifying a name it's the same thrift stores that a lot of people have access to and visit in the USA every week. Like I said before (I Think) it's a matter of timing and luck.

Also, be very diversified in what you're looking for and make no limits at what you look at even if its just for a second. There are a lot of nice items that make it to the shelves in addition to being over looked once they are there.

Although, shelf life is usually very limited so its an endless loop of timing and luck every to you go for the most part.

[mart]

Gotcha ! Here there are several thrift shops but not much makes it to the shelves if it is any value !! And if it does,,it is usually way above market value !!

[ironlord1963]

    Yea those crazy insenstive Thrift store Online Lister        They are taking up all the treasures      Sorry I'll see what I can do about slipping one or two bones out there for you to find           Funny thing is we get nasty email every once and a while about how we "The Listers"  have taken the fun out of it.    We had one a few weeks ago, when we found and posted a Rare Beatles Meat Record, bids way flying, and in the end we got this 2 pg. lone email about how we took the fun out of it and they will no longer shop at the goodwill, and lots of colorful words to boot.            I would have to kind of agree though, the more we do this the better we get and the walk in thrift store will be a bit lame for the treasure hunters.  But all is not lost come spring we have the Rummage and Estate sales      Since we are kind of on the subject what do you folks feel about this, Kind of curious.  But Please don't hate me cause I have crossed to the dark side   

[KevinM]

You, ironlord1963, Dark Sided One, you being an "Insider", about how many items do you list in a day? How many listers are there in your group and about how many total items combined do you all list daily? Of those items that go through the sifting process (excluding clothing and furniture) about how many carts make it to the floor on a daily basis.

I've heard there are certain expectations on the amount of carts or merchandise to put out daily. I know of one that puts out about 15 carts of items daily (throughout the day) and they have so much stuff they truck stuff to other nearby outlets that are short on donations. I would think that the shear volume of items received that things have to make it out to the floor but the good stuff has a very limited shelf life.

Also, I think at times there may not be enough staff at times to possibly list all the good stuff so some of it has to get out to floor (including things the sifters/listers miss). In addition, let's not forget that when the listed items are sold someone has to take the time to process those items (packaging, shipping, etc...).

All said and done, I don't think the "Lister" has hurt the walk-in store business at all. The places I go the parking lots are almost full most of the time and a lot of the cars there seem to be very nice and expensive cars and trucks.

[ironlord1963]

      Each Lister has a quota of 25 items a day to post, our store has 9 listers, usually we have about 1000 items up any given time of the week.   As for the sorting it is sone by how many items they sort and price, I think their numbers are like over 200 items a day.  How many carts I'm not sure but lots of stuff goes out each day.   Yes, good stuff will make it to the floor.  Depending on the sorter, if they find something "They think is good" they put it on a shelf, then we listers will take a look at it and say yea or nay, then put it on the collectibles area shelf if we don't think it will sell for better then say $25 on line.   The fun part for me is, we lister are allowed to look in the tubs before the sorters get them, I do this every chance I get, it seems the other lister don't but I find treasure daliy.  The other day I found a Nautical Port hole in the metal recycling bin, who ever was sorting had no clue what it was and thougth it was metal waste, So I posted it and had a bid within minutes of listing it. 
     As for the amount of stuff we get, yea it is alot, never run out of things to post.  We here in seattle, get stuff from the surronding stores, not just our store, I think like 14 different stores send us their good stuff to post.  With all that stuff flying around, yes things get to the floor, beign there all the time I get to go on the floor several times a week and I still find stuff, that I could of got more for on line.  But they usually don't make it 24 hrs on the shelf.  We employees have to wait until something has been on the floor for 24hrs. before we can buy it.  Thrust me many times I would eye something to come back the next day and it is gone.
     With all that being said no for the most part Online Listers have not hurt the store, but most who come to the store are not seeking treasures, they are looking for a cheap pair of jeans some mismatched cups for their new apartment, or just a cheap pair of speakers for their computer.  The ones it did hurt are the treasure hunter who went to thrift store to find items to resale for profit in their own store or the online store.  All I know this is the best job I've had, being lover of Antiques and Glassware and a online saler myself, I couldn't ask for a better job.

[KevinM]

ironlord1963, thanks for the information on the daily behind the scenes operations, very interesting.

[KC]

I still love thrift stores and help some out with pricing!