Question:
I recently bought some amazing clear yellow and orange bone beads. They're
made, I'm told, from cow bone in India. Does antone have any idea how these
are made? There must be some sort of process to render the opaque bone
totally transparent. They look and have the heft of best quality amber.
Any information from the addicts in this group would be most welcome!
Answer:
-One thing I DO know, is that cows are sacred in India, so the likelihood of
your beads coming from them is very small, I would think.
Is your source as to their provenance reliable?
-Perhaps they're actually horn, instead of bone? The yellow horn beads look sort
of like amber....
-They're probably horn, not bone.
- These are probably Horn not Bone. Horn tends to be transparet/translucent
and can be made into any color. As far as how they make them. I believe they
melt down the horn (to a Jell consistancy) dumb it into large pans and then let
it cool. When it gets hard then carve it with various tools.
