English Mother of Pearl Stationery Box, Circa 1840

Mother of pearl veneered stationery box in diamond harlequin pattern throughout. Domed top with iridescent shell segments. Interior fitted with paper-lined compartments and burgundy velvet lid lining. Base decorated with hand-painted oak leaf and acorn motif in black on silver ground. Brass hinges and working lock with escutcheon. English, circa 1840

height: 4.5 in. (11 cm.)
width: 7 in. (18 cm.)
depth: 3 in. (8 cm.)

* Mother of Pearl ..was mainly inlaid into the shell in decorative designs. The first step to its use as a material in its own right was made at around 1800, when a “harlequin” design was developed using diamonds of tortoiseshell and mother of pearl.
Very few boxes were covered solely in mother of pearl. This is probably because the aesthetic quality, which depended purely on the iridescence of the shell, was difficult to appreciate and also because cutting, matching, and fixing diamonds of mother of pearl is technically quite treacherous. Boxes in mother of pearl had no other decoration except silver central plates and escutcheons.

A few boxes of incredible workmanship were made in mother of pearl, inlaid with floral decoration executed in more colorful shells, such as abalone. Good examples of such work are rare. The decoration ranges from exceedingly fine to mind-blowingly fine. It must have taken an astonishing degree of skill to inlay one hard material into another with such accuracy. Even in pieces, such boxes are worth preserving.

Excerpted from Clarke, Antigone & O’Kelly, Joseph. Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies, & Society 1700 – 1880. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2003. ISBN: 0-7643-1688-5. p. 111.