[NHCOLL-L:1108] RE: tusks/ivory

[Carol Brynjolfson]

There is a good discussion of ivory and other materials by Jonathon
Thornton, 'The Structure of Ivory and Ivory Substitutes' in AIC Preprints,
1981, pp 173-81 (AIC = American Institute for Conservation).  It is an old
article, but there are clear descriptions of what things look like, but it
is not illustrated.  There is also a book, by Arthur MacGregor, Bone,
Antler, Ivory and Horn (Barnes & Noble Books, Totowa, New Jersey) that is
quite comprehensive on the subject, and is well-illustrated.

A simple test to determine if the material is cellulose nitrate is the
diphenylamine test (see CCI Note 17/2).

Carol Brynjolfson
Conservator
Vancouver Museum


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu]On Behalf Of Britney Hager
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2001 12:18 PM
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:1103] tusks/ivory


Let me be a little more specific and spell everything correctly this time.
This person who called me described a piece of ivory that was about 27inches
long and 3inches wide.  He believes it is a piece of elephant tusk.  I think
maybe walrus.  But since I have not seen it, who knows.  Anyway, he wanted
to know if there was a test to determine if it is real.

Britney Hager
Collections Manager
Dallas Museum of Natural History
3535 Grand Ave
Dallas  TX  75210
(214)421-3466 Ext. 205
bhager at dmnhnet.org