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Teak elephant; Home made or factory made?  

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Lars_F
(@lars-fjetlandhotmail-com)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 48
03/07/2016 2:53 pm  

I bought this lovely teak elephant at my local thrift store in Norway, and I can’t seem to be able to indentify it.
There are no markings underneath.
The body of the elephant is asymmetric, which makes me believe that it would have been an expensive piece to develop.
So my question is whether it is home made or factory made?
Does anyone by any chance have any information about its origin?
I see some parallels to this design marked "Handmade in Norway". Is anyone familiar with this makers mark?
https://www.etsy.com/listing/127132899/danish-modern-carved-teak-elephant

I have been pursuing the following leads:
Arne Tjomsland
Skjode Skjern
Lev Kari
Bojesen
I hope there is someone out there with an extensive knowledge about mid-century teak figurines.
Thanks!
Lars


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Spanky
(@spanky)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4376
03/07/2016 6:32 pm  

I have the same elephant that you linked to on Etsy. The incised mark is very light and hard to read, for what it's worth. I got it a couple of months ago and had never seen one before that, and I haven't looked into it much so I don't really have a lot of information.
I thought that the bull below was stamped Made in Norway but now I can't find any mention of that so maybe I imagined it. It does have the same distinctive shape to the animal's back as on the elephant, though---coming to a peaked ridge instead of being broadly rounded like a real bull or elephant. Is your elephant shaped like this too?
The front legs are thicker on yours than on the Norwegian elephant and bull. That makes me think it's by someone else.
The eyes on my Norwegian elephant are tiny black beads inset in holes---probably glass? They're very glossy and are between 1 and 2 mm in diameter. The tusks are plastic, I think. They come out easily and have extrusion marks on the blunt ends that stick into the holes but the part that shows is very nicely sanded to a smooth, matte finish.
Are you sure your elephant is teak? The wood looks more like that in the Indonesian-made elephant by Novica below, though yours has style details that put it in a different class of workmanship than these.




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Lars_F
(@lars-fjetlandhotmail-com)
Trusted Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 48
03/07/2016 6:46 pm  

Hi, and thanks for the reply!
The bull is probably designed by Lev Kari for Skjode Skjern.
It seems quite similar to the Etsy elephant, but it´s made in Denmark.
Note how both elephants have insterted eyes, and ivory/painted wooden tusks.
Lars


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Lars_F
(@lars-fjetlandhotmail-com)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 48
03/07/2016 6:49 pm  

Sorry did not see your comments about the eyes.
I have seen similar eyes on other wooden animals marked with "Handmade in Norway"
Will try to pull the tusks out to see if they match your description


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Spanky
(@spanky)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4376
03/07/2016 7:24 pm  

Is the bull a confirmed design by Lev Kari? I saw attributions but not any actual marks. I don't know either way.
I also stumbled upon this wonderful mastodon--no idea if it's the same designer. No mark is shown.


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Lars_F
(@lars-fjetlandhotmail-com)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 48
03/07/2016 7:34 pm  

That is a beauty!
found this: https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/107480098/danish-modern-carved-teak-bull...


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Lars_F
(@lars-fjetlandhotmail-com)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 48
03/07/2016 7:44 pm  

Wood type of the Mammoth?


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Spanky
(@spanky)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4376
03/07/2016 7:48 pm  

Ah, ok! I missed that.
Also, I just looked at the tusks again under very bright light and magnification and it looks like they have the fine grain lines of ivory...maybe. I shaved a tiny bit off and burned it and it didn't melt, just left a black ash that crushed to nothing. So, probably ivory.
eta: you're right, wooly mammoth, not mastodon!


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Spanky
(@spanky)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4376
03/07/2016 10:17 pm  

I didn't see any mention of the wood type of the mastodon (or mammoth--I can't remember the difference). All I can find online is a photo from an old ebay listing, circulating on Pinterest.


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Zephyr
(@zephyr)
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Joined: 2026 years ago
Posts: 652
04/11/2016 2:38 pm  

My wife picked up this walnut whale the other day, and it has really great form. Reminded me of Bojesen or Hermann. I am guessing it is probably just a piece of Mid Century American folk art, but was interested if anyone had seen it, or something like it, before?
It is about 5.5" long, black walnut, with inlaid lighter wood eyes.




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