This detailed crayfish sculpture is carved from cow bone by Filipino craftsmen. It is fully articulated, with hinged segments and legs. They’re available for $415 from Vivre, but could probably be purchased for far less in the Philippines direct from the artists.
Product Page [Vivre.com via Cool Hunting]
I saw one of these in an Antique store in “downtown” Smithfield, Va for twice as much. It really looks like an exact copy, I wonder how “hand-made” these guys actually are… Still, looks amazing, eh? And cow bone no less!
I used to work in antiques and have come across both real and fakes. The real ones are usually ivory, and have much more detail, occasionally with ink work (similar to scrimshaw). They are most always Japanese, Meiji period to early Taisho, and will have the artist’s signature somewhere on the tail or belly of the piece. Also the ivory ones have a smoother shell, with out the pointy texture the thorax of the lobster in the picture has. If the ivory lobster is textured, it will have signs of wear.
The grain of ivory and bone is also different. Ivory has a more consistent coloring, and a subtle, almost wood like grain. Bone has a more pronounced grain, and it is common to see dark parallel lines in old bone.
He isnt creepy… I would have to say cow bone is an interesting choice of materials… $415.00 is pretty steep for a dust collector…
http://www.cogno.com/blog
Laura
Anonymous (1), two just alike doesn’t necessarily mean they’re machine-made. It can just mean the artist carved two that were practically identical. Probably what it means is that the artist has carved dozens or hundreds that were practically identical.
I’ve fond these at Michelle Varian in Soho (NYC). They also have these amazing ivory owl tape measures http://www.michelevarian.com/IBS/SimpleCat/Product/asp/hierarchy/04/product-id/36737499.html