19th Century Mother of Pearl Shells on Stands
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- 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.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
A pair of topaz earrings, each earring featuring a pear cut topaz of 4.25cts suspended from a horizontally set oval cut topaz of 1.35cts, mounted in 18ct white gold. Condition: earrings present in excellent condition and stones are secure in their settings
An 18ct gold sapphire and diamond dress ring, centring a fine blue oval Ceylon sapphire estimated as 10.80ct, surrounded by 16 round brilliant cut diamonds totalling approx. 1.53ct in a rhodium plated top, size N, wt. 8.4g, with copy val. Cert.
A 9ct gold gemset ring, set with an oval cut morganite with surround of round cut morganites and single cut diamonds, size U.
A Qing period celadon plate with moulded decoration, 28.5 cm diameter, on a carved stand, overall height 33.5 cm.