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World |
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Value - Related to Horn |
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All Rhino Species |
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Working in Raffles Museum, Singapore - fake horn cups. The existence of faked rhinoceros horns which have been confused as genuine ones, has been pointed out by Hooijer (1959) who described a specimen from Djakarta that was made from the horn of an ordinary water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis (Linn.). In 1927, Neuville described in detail two such specimens which he claimed to be horns of the Javan, or One-horned Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros sondaicus Desmar. A figure of one of these was given by Bourdelle (l955), who also accepted it as a rhinoceros horn.
In January 1959, I received from Singapore a similar example which I immediately identified as a product of Water Buffalo horn. It was almost identical with a specimen that had been previously publicised in a local newspaper (Straits Times, l3th. January, 1958). As a result of farther publicity in the local press (Sunday Times, 10th. July, 1960), two further specimens were forthcoming.
The first of these (Pl. XVIII, figs. 1 &: 2), was one of two that were purchased for about $300/- (Malayan) from Saigon in October 1957. It was made from the entire horn of a young Gaur, Bibos gaurus Smith. The specimen was well polished and the base was carved with rows of knobs, the latter probably imitating the rough skin of rhinoceros. There were four smooth prominences carved symmetrically on the polished part, two on the convex side and one on either side of these two. The specimen was immediately recognised as a fake since, unlike rhinoceros horn, it was hollow (Pl. XVIII, fig. 2) and the horny substance was laid down in concentric layers.
The second specimen (Pl. XIX, figs. 1 & 2), was a much better imitation and was similar to Hooijer's example and my earlier specimen from Singapore. It originated locally from Taiping and has been in the possession of its present owner for the last 40 years. It was made from Water Buffalo horn and was constructed of two parts, the hollow base, into which the solid tip of the buffalo horn had been inserted and held fast with glue. The protruding tip was mostly polished and the base was again carved to look like rhinoceros skin. There were also eight smooth prominences arranged symmetrically on the base. An interesting feature was the disruptively gouged undersurface of the base (Pl. XIX, fig. 2), an attempt apparently at diverting attention from the otherwise conspicuous circular outline of the joint.
The use of rhinoceros horn as an aphrodisiac in Chinese medicine is well known. Faced now with the near estinction of the Malaysian species of rhinoceros which are at the same time well protected by game laws, it is not surprising if substitute horns are being produced. Hooijer (1959) points out that imitation horns may be seen displayed prominently in Chinese medicine shops in Djakarta as, what he claims to be, advertisements for the genuine horn. I have, however, failed to see any being put to such use in Malaya. It furthermore seems to me highly unlikely that these imitations would have been prepared so painstakingly merely for this purpose. For the present, I am accepting them merely as fakes which have heen manufactured solely for disposal as genuine items.
Footnote:
While this paper was in the press, the writer received yet another imitation made from Water Buffalo horn which was somewhat similar in appearance to the last one described above (see Singapore Free Press, 8th. November, 1960). It was however in one piece with a hollow base. Of particular interest was the fact that powdered scrapings from this specimen had been used for medicinal purposes on a number of occasions.
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Imitation rhino horns
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