Whalebone Walking Stick with Inlaid Shell and Horn

• Mother-Of-Pearl - Mother-of-pearl, technical name "nacre", is the inner layer of a sea shell. The iridescent colours and strength of this material were widely used in the nineteenth century as an inlay in jewellery, furniture, (especially papier mache furniture) and musical instruments.
  
  In the early 1900s it was used to make pearl buttons. Mother-of-pearl is a soft material that is easily cut or engraved.
  
  Nowadays it is a by-product of the oyster, freshwater pearl mussel and abalone industries.
• Tortoiseshell - Tortoiseshell is a translucent material that comes from the horny carapace of a certain types of turtles, including the hawksbill turtle. It is often therefore mounted on a colour underground - often red - or inlaid with gold or silver thread, as seen in Boulle furniture.
  
  The texture and colour nuances of the material are extremely important. Heated tortoiseshell can easily be formed into various shapes. Like other natural materials, tortoiseshell becomes more beautiful with use. In a time before plastic, tortoiseshell was widely used for small objects such as combs and powder compacts.
  
  In 1973, the trade of tortoiseshell worldwide was banned under CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). Prior to importing or exporting items containing tortoiseshell a CITES permit must be obtained. Tortoiseshell items cannot be traded on Ebay.
  
  "Faux tortoiseshell", another case of man initiating nature, is made from old-style plastics such as celluloid and cellulos and is coloured with red, yellow and brown spots to imitate the genuine article. It is commonly used in glasses frames, musical instruments and costume jewellery.
• Baleen - Baleen is the filter feeder system in a baleen whale, and these whales have several hundred plates of baleen with a hairy fringe on their upper jaw.
  
  Baleen refers to the solid plate, and it is historically important as it was sought by whalers as a by-product of the whaling industry, who called it whalebone, though it is not made of bone at all, and used it for scrimshaw.
  
  The earliest artefacts were made of baleen produced from Arctic whaling in the 17th century.
  
  In the 19th century baleen was an important raw material, comparable to present-day plastics. Its thermoplastic nature and strength meant it could be used to make a wide variety of functional and decorative objects.
  
  Sailors used baleen to make sewing boxes and other small containers and another common use was brush bristles; it was even used as runners on toboggans.
  
  Baleen basketry was developed into a craft, with examples of simple baskets to complex woven ones, which could take months to complete.
  
  Other shore-based uses included in corsets, buggy whips, umbrella ribs, canes, skirt hoops and especially as a cheaper substitute for ivory in carving.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• walking sticks and canes, material
  • baleen 31
  • horn / horn mounted / antler 140
  • whalebone 118