Dear Gary,
 
Your examination pretty much mirrors my experience.  The surface of the
shell looks microscopically pustulated and the shell has a slightly rubbery
feel.  Since the interior whorls look authentic, I am baffled as to whether
this shell is a molded fake or a plasticized authentic.
 
This is a true lesson in the completely different relationship between hours
laboured and value added that exists amoungst craftmen in the third world.
The effort would not likely be worth it at western labor rates.
 
All in all an interesting learning experience.
 
Regards,
 
Scott Jordan
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Gary Rosenberg <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, June 19, 1998 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: Fake Cypraea sakuraii
 
 
>I have examined a retouched Cypraea sakurai. It was a real but faded
>specimen on which someone had redrawn the pattern and then somehow reglazed
>the shell.  My first reaction on seeing the specimen was that it was the
>best specimen of the species I had ever seen. Under a microscope however, I
>could see that the pattern had been drawn on with brown ink. In a real
>cowrie, the pattern is laid down in three dimensions, and is slightly
cloudy
>under magnification. In the retouch specimen, the pigment was applied along
>a single surface rather than built up in three dimensions.  The glaze of
the
>surface was also too perfect.  In a real specimen, the growth lines of the
>shell give a slightly wavy reflection of light, but in the retouched one,
>lights were reflected too exactly.  The fake is certainly worth the price,
>and I wouldn't try to test it with solvents if you can tell by microscopic
>inspection that it is fake.
>
>Gary
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>Gary Rosenberg, Ph.D.                     [log in to unmask]
>Malacology & Invertebrate Paleontology    gopher://erato.acnatsci.org
>Academy of Natural Sciences               http://www.acnatsci.org
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