Keicho - no shoulder blades, no pelvis...?

[Ezio Bonsignore]

No shoulder blades or pelvis are visible. Just a matter of presentation/preparation, or someone sort of forgot such annoying details while carving/painting a fake?

[CDiggs]

9 minutes ago, Ezio Bonsignore said:

 someone sort of forgot such annoying details while carving/painting a fake?

 

I'd go with this answer. This looks 100% carved and painted and 0% original.

[trilobites_are_awesome]

Carved 100% that is so fake!

[Ezio Bonsignore]

My that was fast! Thanks for the warning - the fakery was pretty evident even to me

[Danielb]

Run far away it is art work!

[snolly50]

Fake or not, the presentation of the specimen is the dorsal aspect - the "missing" parts are buried in the matrix. I think it is an actual specimen.

Edited December 12, 2023 by snolly50

[Fossildude19]

It could be real, but it IS heavily painted.  I'd pass just for that reason.

The prep is pretty heavy handed, and it's not a great specimen, to begin with. 

[snolly50]

2 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

It could be real,

 I am judging by the skull's appearance (check out the teeth), It and the first bit of neck look original. The rest appears paint monkeyed. I too, would pass on such a purchase. This critter is commonly available, so seeking a better piece is the wisest course. 

[Psittacosaur9]

Even if it is real (which I'd bet it isn't), the fact that they prepared it so poorly that the hips went 'missing' is a huge red flag.

Edited December 14, 2023 by Psittacosaur9

[Ezio Bonsignore]

Thank you all again for the comments and advice. Just to clarify my point: thanks to this wonderful forum, I have been progressively acquiring (well, I like to think I have) sort of a basic capabiity to identify at least the most blatant signs of possible fakery/manipulation. Just for this very reason, however, I am also acutely aware of the risk of falling into the typical neofite's trap, i.e. relying on my freshly-acquired pseudo-expertise to pass too rush judgements.

In this particular case, I wasn't at all interested in purchasing this keicho (if so). Rather, I needed to ascertain as to whether my assessment, "avoid it!"  was justified. I am thus relieved to see that you share it.

[Crazyhen]

As snolly50 pointed out, the specimen is in its dorsal position, and so you won't see its pelvis and shoulder blades.  Here is a genuine specimen in its dorsal position, you can see the positive and negative plates.  Just for illustration of how a genuine specimen in its dorsal position looks like.