Well is that a whopper of a fish or not? Actually this little fishy nearly didn't get caught. As I was exiting the local Goodwill with an impatient daughter I caught a glimpse of this wild colored mounted fish on the shelf. At first I didn't think much of it except that it was bright orange and had a bit of an art deco look about it. When I picked it up I could tell that it was carved and appeared to be made of Bakelite. I always am attracted to items that have a lot of craftsmanship put into them since I consider them art most of the time. It cost 69 cents so I put it in the basket and headed for the cashier and it had a new home.
Now when it comes to Bakelite there are a few ways to test it that are very reliable and I tend to stick to the 409 test. Make sure it's good old fashioned Blue 409. Spray some on a paper towel and rub the object for a while. If you notice a yellow stain on the paper towel similar to what a nicotine stain looks like it's Bakelite. It doesn't matter what color the Bakelite is you will get a yellow tinted stain on the rag or paper towel because the 409 reacts with the formaldehyde in the Bakelite.
Well after determining I had a carved piece of Bakelite I headed to Ebay to search for a similar item to see if it had much value. When I got the results of my search I was amazed to find that Bakelite items were HOT however it was mostly jewelry pieces especially bangles that were the best sellers, followed by broaches and pins. There wasn't anything close to being what amounted to a piece of mounted Bakelite sculpture. Well I really liked the look of this item but decided to take my chances and put it up for sale. Maybe I had something that was really special. Well it went on for 10 days and sold for $69.50 which was the reserve I put on it. I have to admit I was disappointed it only made the reserve price but I did get 100 times what I paid for it. Since it wasn't a jewelry item it just didn't have the appeal that I hoped it would. It was however a nice piece of artwork that now lives in Japan to be enjoyed by it's new owner. Glad I saw it out of the corner of my eye while being rushed out of the store.
TO BE CONTINUED.................
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