posted on June 28, 2001 11:35:55 AM new
I purchased a collection of cat figurines recently. I do not think they are old. One of them is a tall cat sitting, made out of what feels like heavy-duty paper-mache. It has an "old look" to it, but judging by the other cats in the collection, I think it's a reproduction. Any idea of what this material could be? No maker's mark anywhere. It is painted and I scraped a very small area to see what was underneath--light tan in color. Could this be balsa wood?
[ edited by joycel on Jun 28, 2001 11:37 AM ]
posted on June 28, 2001 06:53:09 PM new
joycel: Is the texture like an egg carton or is it much finer. How tough is it?
If it is similar to an egg carton then it could be old papier mache like the type used in vintage candy containers, etc. A lot of these were made in Germany earlier in the last century. (Hard to believe the 1900's are the last century now!)
It might also be a wood composition (commonly referred to as compo) material that was popular in the late 30's and 40's for novelty items. This material was often used in doll heads, etc. and small statuary pieces.
A newer material is syrocco, which is a type of imitation wood, again along the lines of the wood composition material that was used in earlier times. The syrocco wood material has been used in a countless variety of items. Not sure what it is made of but my guess is wood by-products strengthened with resin. If you scratch this stuff with a knife it wants to peel in layers, whereas the older composition material breaks away in chips or cracks. Do a search on eBay and see what you find for syrocco and see if your piece matches anything that you find there.
Edited to add that it could be wood - maybe balsam, as a lot of foreign imports today are made of a similar type of wood. Cat's are popular pieces and many of these are made to look old.
Hope this helps!
[ edited by bogalucy on Jun 28, 2001 06:55 PM ]
posted on June 28, 2001 08:08:06 PM new
Please post a pic if you have one.
I have a fair number of papier mache objects among my collections; some figures, mostly decorative boxes.
My collection's geographical range is from Russia on east to China. I might recognize the style or motif of your cats, as well as hazard a guess as to whether they're papier mache, if I could see them.
