I honestly don't even know. My fiance and I are discussing this one now - and have before, actually - and we think it might be a sort of plaster. It's not hollow, so it's not ceramic. It's got a bit of heft to it. The tusks of it, however, we believe may actually be ivory, unfortunately. My dad was never a hunter, but he wasn't ashamed to own a bit of ivory.
I found the maker of this elephant (as well as some others in the collection) by a sculptor named A. Giannelli from Italy who made them with alabaster.
It would be interesting to know what each elephant is made of.
I honestly don't even know. My fiance and I are discussing this one now - and have before, actually - and we think it might be a sort of plaster. It's not hollow, so it's not ceramic. It's got a bit of heft to it. The tusks of it, however, we believe may actually be ivory, unfortunately. My dad was never a hunter, but he wasn't ashamed to own a bit of ivory.
I have some inherited figurines that I thought were ivory as that was the family lore. Turns out it was just bone. From what, we will never know.
I found the maker of this elephant (as well as some others in the collection) by a sculptor named A. Giannelli from Italy who made them with alabaster.
Alabaster = Plaster before it's plaster. Cool find, thanks for digging!
Its a beauty!
Thanks!