Mozaic Pieces

[heavydude]

   I have been so in awe at this thread.  I was in debate between hand carved pieces and Hobby bead store items, but after carefully looking I'm sure the later is not the case.  Just looking at the Lion is stunning.  The detail of the carved line just above the eye.  Is the other side the same?  The tongue the teeth and etc.  Imagine the amount of work went into these items. 

Yes, both sides of the face are the same. Here's a front view. Looks like somebody's happy pet. He's missing an upper tooth on one side. I just noticed that. There's a hole where the tooth was affixed in the distant past. May have always been that way.

Regardless of what these things are made of, the workmanship and attention to detail is amazing.

Kinda curious about the horse with the nailed look about it. 

The prancing horse and the scepter both have the "tiles" nailed to the figurine but I'm guessing that it's for decorative effect and that the "tiles" are also glued.

Then we come to the glue, sure is not elmers. Kinda looks like it hardened into a crytal or very hard clear surface.  Any ideals going in anyones head about the type of glue or adhesion used? 

I suppose if I ever find out where and when these were made, that would be a clue as to the type of glue used.

All in all I just really like the items of this thread, you have very wonderful pieces there.  Hope you and all of us here on the forum finds the answers to this one.   

Thanks. I didn't realize my items would garner so much attention. Now that they have, I'll provide a little history.

My parents (both deceased) were avid antiquers in the NYC area from the 1960s through the 1990s. When my Dad got sick in the late 90s they slowed it down quite a bit and, after he died in 2001, my Mom only occasionally did a flea market now and then. During their heyday they did very well and their acquisitions and sales ranged from inexpensive knick-knacks to an occasional high end item.

My mother acquired the figurines at some time during the 1970s from a private party and was told they were ivory. Whether they were are weren't wasn't a real issue, even then, because the craftsmanship and uniqueness was worth the few hundred that she paid for the set.

She was always reluctant to put them up for sale because if they were made of ivory there was a possibility that it could be of the illegal kind and she had no documentation on them. So she displayed them in her curio cabinet for the rest of her life. When she died in 2007 my siblings and I divvied them up. I got the lion and scepter, my brother got the prancing horse, and my sisters each got one of the matching horses.

In 2008 I spend some time making inquiries to dealers and auction houses that I found on the internet. Didn't get anywhere and put the issue aside. Forums like this didn't occur to me then, but since then I've been involved in other types of forums and have become familiar with how they work.

Well, it rained yesterday and today here in Phoenix and I was looking for a rainy day activity. My lion caught my eye and I decided to get back into it, so here I am.

I think I've made some good progress so far and, at the same time, provided interesting exhibits for the enjoyment of the members.

[waywardangler]

Look at these pieces http://atlantaantiquegallery.com/i-911522-okimono-elephant.html and http://atlantaantiquegallery.com/i-911510-okimono-elephant.html  The second elephant really looks similar to the quality of your figures.  This may give you some indication of age, value, and origin (Okimono is Japanese) if the dealer's description is accurate.  The fact that there are virtually no examples available on the internet would lead one to believe these types of figures are scarce. 

[ironlord1963]

Good going wayward, sure looks like the same maker.  I would say style, but would have to agree with wayward on the fact they are a scarce item.  With that much attention to detail, the artist was well practriced.  Could be looking at a case of semi-famous folk art, one that is made by just a few Artist if not one and yet not enough to make it a craft of the time.  Sounds like a great lead "Okimono".

[heavydude]

Look at these pieces http://atlantaantiquegallery.com/i-911522-okimono-elephant.html and http://atlantaantiquegallery.com/i-911510-okimono-elephant.html  The second elephant really looks similar to the quality of your figures.  This may give you some indication of age, value, and origin (Okimono is Japanese) if the dealer's description is accurate.  The fact that there are virtually no examples available on the internet would lead one to believe these types of figures are scarce. 

Wow!

How did you find those?

They certainly appear to be the identical style and technique of my pieces. The elephant with the nailed tiles resembles the prancing horse and the scepter. The elephant without the nails is very much like the lion and the pair of smaller horses. The close up shot of the tiles on that elephant appears identical to the size and shape of the tiles on the lion.

I've emailed the gallery for higher resolution photos and additional information.

Meantime, a little googling reveals that Okimono is a Japanese term for objects that are displayed in front of religious altars or in other special places of setting objects of appreciation, but does not describe the technique of making such objects. An image search for Okimono brought up countless examples of figurines carved from single pieces of ivory, but nothing resembling the mosaic tile technique.

While it's gratifying (and magic) that the two elephants were found, I'm still looking into the origin of this particular technique: the where, when and who.

[waywardangler]

Heavydude, happy to help.  I Googled 'ivory tiles figurine' and searched many sites before the Atlanta Antique Gallery site popped up and since they had Asian ivory figures, I went through all their pages and whoila! the elephants were on one page. I think one would have to talk with an Asian ivory antique expert to find out the further information you are looking for.  These figures are just not out there on the web so their production must have been really, really low or even folk art as ironlord suggested.

[heavydude]

Thanks, everybody.

I'll be back when I get a response from the dealer with the two elephants.