posted on June 30, 2004 05:19:22 AM new
WEll, I did it, I found some very unique items at an estate sale. The original owners were old time travel agents or tour guides. Anyway, I couldn't resist. They were calling my name for goodness sakes! HA HA HA I was just wondering if I should put these in a consignment store rather than ebaying them.
One of these is of a pair of black hands holding a black head. The head is actually a huge vesse(?) Maybe for a drink? or to hold soemthing else. Around the head are thick bands of brass and another metal Could be African, could be an indochina country as most of their items are from that region.
The other is a HUGE wooden carved figure of two elephants with men with spears. there are 3 men on each elephant. There must be atleast 16 spears total in the piece. The elephant tusks, spears and the riders are all removeable. Real braided rope on each elephant. Alot of detail.
One more looks like those stick shadow puppet dancers, also removeable from their stand. I think it's made of some kind of bone. <-- I think this one is ebay-able
I can post fotos later if that helps. I was wondering if I would get more at a consignment shop rather than on ebay. There is NOTHING on ebay similar to what I have. Anyone have any experience with something like this?
[ edited by paloma91 on Jul 3, 2004 08:24 AM ]
posted on June 30, 2004 05:47:08 AM new
strange,bizarre and grosteque things sell well on ebay.
dont forget to mention your grandfather was with Dr Livingston in Africa and brought them from a witch and the dead spirits still dwell in them.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
[ edited by stopwhining on Jun 30, 2004 05:48 AM ]
posted on June 30, 2004 05:50:02 AM new
oh,with the right kind of training,they will all get off the doves to vacuum,clean,mop,cook for you while you are ebaying.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 30, 2004 06:00:03 AM new
Do some searching on eBay to see how well they do. If these have a real collector or resale value, buyers will find them on eBay. If they are of more decorative value, think about how easily you could find similar ones on eBay. My personal opinion is that if it is not something people are searching for and can be readily found by category or keyword, it will be hard to sell on eBay, since it is now simply too large to browse. Do you have what they now call "upscale consignment" stores where you are? That may be a better option.
posted on June 30, 2004 07:23:42 AM new
I can not give any advise about the elephants or the hands holding the head but if the third item is a shadow puppet I might have a suggestion. Are the arms and legs on sticks and movable? You say it might be bone which seems strange since all the Javanese shadow puppets I have seen are made of hide that is pierced and painted. I have seen some sculptures that are made of a resin-like material but am not sure they were made for use in an actual Indonesia puppet theater or were just decorative. If you search for "shadow puppet" and any of the words "Indonesia" "Javanese" "Balinese" or "wayang" you will get a lot of information. If you establish that it is either an actual shadow puppet or a decorative representation of one I suggest you add some words like "optical toy", "pre-cinema", and "projection" to your description. We collect optical toys and pre-cinema and have one Javanese shadow puppet. Many collectors of early projection and motion picture history will want one in their collection. -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on June 30, 2004 07:28:56 AM new
it may not be shadow puppet,it could be burmese puppets,many are repros made in thailand with sex organs,crude but that's the way it comes.
The show troop take them to rural villages of burma.
if they are bone or material which looks like ivory,then it could be resin or so called alabaster stone -take the stone and grounded it into powder,mix with resin ,then polished.
usually you can tell the ethnic origin by looking at the facial features.
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on June 30, 2004 07:37:55 AM new
Paloma, Where are you located? Cablevision out of NY does a show called Metro TV Antique Show & Sell. They do on air appraisels, but more importantely give a thorough background on the items. John Bruno is the main appraiser and then they have a guest who also put in their opinion. John does alot of appraisel fairs around the area too.
I think the waitto get on, is only 2 -3 weeks. After they value it, they put it up for auction on their web site for 7 days. The nice part of it is that you do not have to accept any of the offers. So it is a way to get it done for free. (There were some folks on the other day from Ohio!) Good luck. Louise
posted on June 30, 2004 08:44:11 AM new
I would like to know also - I'm just not sure the collectors are out there anymore and if they are can they find your item? You almost have to feature high end items - Still wish ebay would separate Antique & Collectibles like ebay motors??
posted on June 30, 2004 11:12:50 AM new
Herbs, Thanks for the info. Too bad I live in California. Let me ask you something, do you sell herbs on ebay?
I have searched these on ebay already as well as the web. Nothing like them out there at all! The shadow puppets sit on a base. They are not moveable at all They come off the base but that's it. I'll try to take some fotos later so you can see what I mean. If the shadow guys are made out of hide, it is a hard stiff hide the consistency of bone. I think i have seen something like this in a movie once where there is a light that flicks on and off.
[ edited by paloma91 on Jun 30, 2004 11:55 AM ]
posted on July 3, 2004 08:26:34 AM new
WHEW ! What a week! I finally have the fotos up. I think I may need to redo the fotos of the heads in hands to show more detail on the sides of the heads etc
posted on July 3, 2004 04:56:03 PM new
Looking at the last item I would say it is a decorative sculpture that represents Javanese shadow puppets. If they were real puppets the arms would be jointed at the shoulders so they could be moved with sticks. I think they might appeal to a shadow puppet collector. -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on July 3, 2004 05:17:01 PM new
men on elephants look indian,back in british controlled india,thats what they do on elephant,hunting for tiger or god knows what??
the last one look like indonesian,and they are not puppets,look like tourist stuff to me
-sig file -------we eat to live,not live to eat.
Benjamin Franklin
posted on July 3, 2004 05:34:02 PM new
The final piece is amazing Paloma - lease let us know when/if you list it.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
posted on July 3, 2004 11:29:26 PM new
Gee, thanks everyone. I still don't know what I am going to do with the wooden elephant sculpture. Kind of cumbersome to ship but not impossible.
I want you to know that the shadow puppet thing looks like it is made from either bone or horn. I took a really close look at it underneath. The entire thing is made of either bone or horn. Not sure which. It is definitly not wood, plastic, resin, bakelite, or balsa wood (I had to throw that in. I am getting a little silly) Really, underneath you can see the grains. It's not all painted underneath so you can actually see what it is.
posted on July 4, 2004 12:05:42 AM new
The figures on the elephants look more Siamese than Indian, and it looks like they are fighting on war elephants, to me.
____________________
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. -- John F. Kennedy
posted on July 4, 2004 12:36:50 AM new
No kidding. I took all of the swords and men off to take it home and then tried to reassemble it to take the fotos, I had about 12 more swords extra and couldn't find places to put them! Even the elephants gold banded tusks came off! My little boy loved it!
Here are the extras left after setting up what I could to take the fotos They were all on the piece when I bought it.
