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| Origin: Arabic name - Nacara | ||
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Gives
lustre, sleeps hard, white in iridescent reflections, that forms in the shell of numerous
sorts of mollusks. It is mainly consisted of carbonate of calcium put down(deposited) in
liqueur brandies sleep that overlap, as well as of organic matter. The superimposing of
these layers in very great produced number of very colored iridescences. Most beautiful mother-of-pearl is produced by mollusks such as the Goldfish shell, the nautilus and the oyster shell. The delicate colours of it mother-of-pearl, influenced by the geographic environment in which soaks the mollusk, go from the blue and from grey to the pink and in the purple, by way of the green. To make it useful mother-of-pearl, the stiff outside coat of the shell is removed according to different methods: by dissolving it by contact with some acid, or by abrading it manually or mechanically. It mother-of-pearl is then polished to stand out the iridescent aspect. It can also be engraved. There is any substitute in give lustre it, that the Man was able to create. An exhibition in the beams of the sun can remove its iridescent reflections. |
Mother-of-pearl was used as ornamental motive in
inlay at the time antique Sumerian and babylonian. In Far East, particularly in China and
in Japan, it was used not only in inlay in objects in lacquer and in wooden furniture but
so only frequently to make netsuk and buttons. " Carvings in the line " quibble,
very complex carvings on mother-of-pearl representing scenes of oriental life and other
oriental motives, are particularly remarkable. The tradition of the work of mother-of-pearl remains even nowadays in Far East. In West, mother-of-pearl was used, from the Middle Age, in the manufacture of luxury objects, then at about XIV-th century, in the religious sculpture of small size. From XVI-th century, it served in inlay for the decoration of furniture in the oriental style. In the XVIII-th century, mother-of-pearl were used in Italy for the marquetry, the jeweller's shop and the drapery. The use, in inlay on trays, boxes and paper furniture chewed, is particularly characteristic of XIX-th century. |
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What is Mother of Pearl?
