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Author Topic: mother of pearl carved shell  (Read 4472 times)

Serial

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mother of pearl carved shell
« on: June 23, 2012, 07:27:46 am »
i have recently purchased a mother of pearl shell with a picture carved into it. it is quite large (about 22 cm wide) and the detail on it is amazing!
i have struggled to find any info on value or origin and was hoping for help
it is slightly yellowed so i assume it has some age on it
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Serial

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2012, 07:33:48 am »
more pics close up to show detail
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KC

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2012, 09:59:02 am »
Can you please post a picture of the back side of the shell?

Are there any markings, English or other that indicate origin?  Symbols on it anywhere?
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talesofthesevenseas

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2012, 10:23:56 am »
That is beautiful! My first thought was that it could be Japanese, but it could also be US or English if it is Victorian era. Take a close look at the whole thing with a magnifying glass for clues.
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mart

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2012, 10:28:08 am »
Need to see the back side like KC said !!  Offhand, it looks too perfect to be hand carved !! I looked and compared two of the leaves and they are identical !!  Not a scratch or anything I can see that would tell me it was hand done !!  There are no signs of carving, all lines are perfect and in order to do this kind of work, all the excess would have to be removed to leave the relief !!  Where did you get this item ??
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KC

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2012, 10:59:34 am »
I was wondering the same thing Mart....
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Serial

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2012, 10:59:35 am »
back
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Serial

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2012, 11:00:32 am »
more detail
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Serial

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2012, 11:07:29 am »
just to let you know, i picked this up for $12 at an op shop.
i recognised quality when i saw it (the piece alone weighs about 1/2kg +). the level of detail is amazing. even if its not that old, whoever carved this is a master
however it is yellowed and i believe it takes 20+ years to get to that state. add to that the fact that no 2 leaves are the same and i can see the tool marks with magnifying glass this is one of my best finds ever and i am sure no machine made this
i have checkeed and found no marks/stamps etc that may indicated origin
i am interested in what people think it is worth?
age?
origin?
i think the flower and bird will be my best clue
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mart

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2012, 08:05:10 pm »
Good luck with it !!  Sorry but I just don`t see it !! I enlarged your last detail shot !!  Same opinion !!  If there were any variation in the lines I might agree with you,, but there is none !! One thing you look for in anything hand done is not the perfection,,, its the imperfections !! That tells the tale !!
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Serial

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #10 on: June 23, 2012, 08:29:14 pm »
so how would they carve this with a machine?
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KC

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #11 on: June 23, 2012, 08:50:30 pm »
These days lots are being carved with laser.
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aDawn

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #12 on: June 23, 2012, 09:16:47 pm »
Well, either way, you clearly love it. And that should be the main reason for collecting anyhow. Just my two cents.

It's quite pretty. You didn't pay a lot for it. Sounds like a good purchase to me :)

I'm following the thread to see what conclusion everyone comes to.
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ghopper1924

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #13 on: June 23, 2012, 09:21:10 pm »
It IS beautiful, however it may be carved. I'm leaning toward machine-made as well.
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Serial

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Re: mother of pearl carved shell
« Reply #14 on: June 23, 2012, 09:23:29 pm »
ok i have looked over it with a 30x mag glass. found a few inperfecions. will try to take pics and up load soon
i do like it and it is pretty. either way i am happy
i would just like to know age/orign atm
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