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AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE SET OF THREE 19TH. CENTURY FLORAL
SHELL WORK ORNAMENTS.
An exceptionally rare set of three shell work floral ornaments
consisting of one pair and one central ornament on slightly
differing stand. Created with a large variety of shells from many
parts of the world to form a highly colouful display of fauna,
flowers and wheat sheaf of superb quality, delicacy and artistry.
Each ornament with a glass dome and mahogany stand on
turned feet . The floral bouquets with a mass of flower heads and
wheat sheaf raised on decorated urn vases surrounded by shells
and fauna. Circa 1840
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Measurements: Pair : Height 24in./ 61cm. Diameter 9.5in./ 24cm.
Single: Height 30.24in./ 77cm. Diameter 12.75in./
32cm.
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Literature: A very similar pair in the Victoria and Albert Museum
and illustrated in the "Dictionary of English Furniture" by Ralph
Edwards and Percy Macquoid, 1954 rev. ed. Vol. 111, p.116,flg 1.
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Provenance: The creation of pieces made from shells can be
found in various forms, examples being the Sharpham Stand
made in the late 18th. Century to contain a shell work grotto and
an Irish cabinet made in 1810 containing a fantasy grotto of shell
work, made by Elizabeth Penrose. Shell work pieces are known
from the 17th• Century, by the 18th. Century shell work had
become a popular craft usually carried out by by women, in 1703
the Edinburgh Gazette was advertising the services of a woman in
London teaching shell work techniques. The diarist Boswell also
refers to a Miss Mclean an accomplished shell work lady in
Scotland.
Image as produced in “The Dictionary of English Furniture”