An antique Thai enep

kai · 22nd January 2017, 06:24 PM

Hello Detlef,

You're pointing to the fibrous texture of the horn. However, this is not diagnostic and also seen with many (especially aging) water buffalo horn carvings. The same goes for translucency which is also often quoted to "indicate" rhino but is definitely not: Many rhino pieces are opaque and lots of non-rhino horn (especially from albinotic individuals) can be beautifully translucent...

The only diagnostic criterion (apart from DNA sampling which is also tough for horn) is the dot motif found with rhino horn since it is basically build from "glued" hair rather than being grown in layers of keratin.

I can't prove it from the additional pics but I'm fairly confident that this is not rhino and most likely water buffalo (some layers seem to be present); one of those pieces that need to be personally examined with good magnification though.

Regards,
Kai

22nd January 2017, 06:24 PM	#16
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Detlef, You're pointing to the fibrous texture of the horn. However, this is not diagnostic and also seen with many (especially aging) water buffalo horn carvings. The same goes for translucency which is also often quoted to "indicate" rhino but is definitely not: Many rhino pieces are opaque and lots of non-rhino horn (especially from albinotic individuals) can be beautifully translucent... The only diagnostic criterion (apart from DNA sampling which is also tough for horn) is the dot motif found with rhino horn since it is basically build from "glued" hair rather than being grown in layers of keratin. I can't prove it from the additional pics but I'm fairly confident that this is not rhino and most likely water buffalo (some layers seem to be present); one of those pieces that need to be personally examined with good magnification though. Regards, Kai