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Hi everybody.
My name is Francisco Roa (Paco Roa) and this is the first time I post in this fórum. I live in Spain. Few days ago I have bought a nice ivory mouse with a silver tail. He stands over a lapislazuli base and seller assure me it was made of mammouth ivory. Mouse is eating a gold cheese piece, his eyes seem to be ruby and tail is made of silver with little diamonds. Tail has very little marks and the only I can see is I.P.
Two other marks are illegible for me. Mouse is inside a wooden box with a cyrillic inscription but I can't understand what is written. Some letters are lost. Anyone can help me?. Thank you very much
Since the decline of the USSR the trade wth Russian antiques increased/was possible to satisfy the big demand in the Western world. The demand is bigger than the supply! This problem is solved with fakes - your shown object is one of the thousands of faux objects sold dayly worldwide.
All the above is very sloppy and wrongly made/marked, tusk is plastic, gemstones glass, silver probably low grade - in one word: a very cheap and sensless fake!
A doubtful object indeed. We have some distorting facts to consider.
There is only one known master marking IP during the period of 1899-1908. That is Julius Rappoport. At that time he was the head silversmith working with Faberge only. Rappoport is known among other things for his decorative animals. However, they were made mostly in silver in an outstanding quality. What would have been his business with Sumin? Would he really have made a tail to a mouse only and to an other dealer??? In addition, the font inside the lid of the box looks incorrect for being from Sumin. FYI, Avenir Ivanovich Sumin was an owner of one of the best jeweler's workshops/ateliers in Russia named "Sibiria Ural Jewells".
Did you check the material of the mouse and the gemstone (lapsilazuli?) before you bought it? The seller might tell you whatever story but that has no major value. His only interest is to sell! A seller identifies in a second how skillful the prospective buyer is or not and if not.......You have to fall back on your own knowledge but not the seller's.
It is often said on these sites that "If you don't know what you are buying, don't buy!" What you should do immediately is turn to a respectable jewellery/goldsmith and ask for a second opinion of the material of the object. Let's hope it is not too late....
Until otherwise is proved, I'm afraid I have to share Zolotnik's opinion.
Thanks a lot Zolotnik and Qrt.s. I had suspected it was a fake. The only thing is the mouse likes to my wife. I would like to know exactly if it's made of any type of bone or other material. Is there any way to check what is made?. Regards:
Paco
Most likely the mouse is made of some kind of plastic. Heat a needle red and touch the object. If it is plastic it will melt. If it is whatever bone, nothing remarkable happens. It might smell some...Anyway, this is not a very scientific method but it will tell you at least something :-))))
