This stunning French Art Deco 1930s pair of Galalith bookends feature two eagles with spread wings. The base of the bookends is in black Galalith, and the hand-carved eagles are in the off-white color of the same material. There is no visible maker's mark.
 
About the material:
Galalith (milk stone) is a registered trademark, patented in the 1890s in Bavaria. Mainly produced in Europe during the first part of the 20th Century, this semi-synthetic plastic (Casein is the generic name) is made from skimmed milk curdled with rennet. Cured by long immersion in formaldehyde, it became a useful thermosetting material that can be carved or embossed in beautiful patterns. Its color doesn't change over time.
The colors you can find are mainly plain opaque colors, sometimes with marbling or translucency.
Galalith pieces are hand machined, sanded, or finished and seamless. There should be no machine marks on them, unlike inexpensive, mass-produced plastics. This material belongs to the family of plastics such as Bakelite, Celluloid, or Lucite. All are considered premium vintage plastic.
Galalith (also wrongly known as "French Bakelite") is impossible to test like genuine American Bakelite because the chemical composition is milk protein hardened with formaldehyde. Tests for Bakelite verify the phenol component of the material, which is non-existent in the Galalith because it is replaced by milk proteins.