Identifying Ebony

I have a carving that I bought in 1967, in the Trobriand Islands in PNG. I recently posted it on a facebook forum, and most comments admired it for its workmanship. I didn't say it was ebony in the description, but there were many saying 'lovely ebony' or similar. The last two comments were that it's not ebony, just ordinary timber stained with shoe polish. There are still ebony carvings on offer from the Trobriands, very few solid black now. I know that a lot of 'black ebony' is now stained - but I'm convinced this piece is real black ebony. Any input would be appreciated.

My reasons?
The statue is 290mm tall and weighs 750 grams. That's quite heavy for 'ordinary' wood.
I know some ebony is brown and yellow as well as black heartwood. This one is pure black with a tinge of brown in one spot.
I rubbed a bit of acetone on the base to see if polished, the rag came away clean.
The base was previously uneven, and a friend levelled it off. The wood is black across the levelled area, around 5mm was taken off on one side.
The fine detailed carving would be difficult to attain with 'ordinary wood'.
The timber is very dense, impossible to dent with a thumbnail.

I have asked the naysayers to explain why they think it's not ebony - and it would be great if I could comment back with more than just my opinion!

It looks like ebony to me; I've turned some ebony, the end of it looked very similar to the bottom end of the carving.

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Originally Posted by GoGuppy

It looks like ebony to me; I've turned some ebony, the end of it looked very similar to the bottom end of the carving.

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Thank you GoGuppy ... it was suggested that the ultimate test would be to put it in a bucket of water and see if it doesn't float. A bit loath to do that.
Now all I need to do is find out what it's worth - I think it's a one of a kind. And what to do with it when I fall off the twig!

The Pacifc Ebony and the importance of ecological knowledge – Biodiversity in Oceania (biodiversityoceania.com)

"The first step was to determine the species that was producing the ebony wood, which he found to be Diospyros samoensis, the Pacific Ebony."

CSIRO PUBLISHING | Pacific Conservation Biology


"Ebony wood, the black heartwood of trees in the genus Diospyros, is a high-value commodity of many Pacific Islands. The revenue earned from the sale of ebony carvings is important for many low-income rural communities, resulting in high harvesting pressure and reported declines of ebony-producing species."

There is also Diospyros vera.

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Originally Posted by olmeri

Thank you GoGuppy ... it was suggested that the ultimate test would be to put it in a bucket of water and see if it doesn't float. A bit loath to do that.
Now all I need to do is find out what it's worth - I think it's a one of a kind. And what to do with it when I fall off the twig!

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Clear ebony for luthier work and knife making handles costs about 10c a gram on ebay so based on that at most its worth $75.
Up to a certain size smaller piece timber always cost more per unit weight than large pieces so my guess is its worth as ebony is about $50.

Dunking it in water won't hurt it - its wood.
But if it floats it could still be ebony - it could be due to the holy personage depicted in the wood :oo:

Not all ebony has a specific gravity greater than 1.0. There are several here that you can compare to your piece: Wood Filter | The Wood Database

Claude

does not look like Ebony, she was a young mans heart throb and had legs that went forever.

Late to the party, but FWIW, there's a good chance it is ebony, unless it's been hollowed out and filled with lead.
When I was in Bougainville in the mid-'70s, there were a lot of carvings around that were just coloured with boot polish, but they were always noticeably light weight.. However, there were a few carved from Pacific ebony, generally of higher quality.

I've got some 'boot polished' carvings from Bali and the colouring wouldn't go deeper than 1mm, so if you've cut 5mm off part of the base and it's still black, I would reckon real ebony is a fair bet! :2tsup:
I've got several species of ebony in my collection and they all look just like your pics.