The Collectors
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Friday 2 November 2007
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This week’s Show & tell item sent in through our website by Wendy in Victoria is a decorative dish with lid. As Niccole explains, this dish is not made of bakelite, as Wendy thought but is made of a different type of plastic called xylonite which was developed 50 years before bakelite.
Xylonite was also known by others names including parkesine, ivoride and ivorine because it resembles ivory.
As Niccole points out, Wendy’s piece has sustained some chips in the edge of the lid because it is old and somewhat brittle. To avoid further damage to items like this, Niccole suggests keeping them out of the light to reduce the risk of them discolouring. Also, refrain from using chemical abrasives to clean them and, because of their fragile nature, avoid knocking them against other solid objects.
Niccole says because this single dish would have been part of a larger manicure set and, because it is chipped, it is worth around $5. If it was in better condition and part of a complete set it could be worth between $75 - $150. So an idea would be to pass it on to a collector looking for this particular piece, or collect the rest of the set.
