|
|
|
![]()
Beth finkle had
long admired a friend’s collection of seashell novelties, so when she
discovered five shell-encrusted, miniature dressers at an Atlanta antiques show,
she didn’t clam up. She bought every one. “I just had to have them,” she says. “I was
hooked.”
The St. Louis antiques dealer was also “lined and
sinkered.” Over the next 15 years, her collection of French and English
Victorian frames, jewelry boxes, and other seashell-embellished trifles grew to
around 60 pieces.
Pincushions (like the ones on this page) and a variety of
shell items were extremely popular in the 1800s. “Sailors and sea voyagers would give them to
loved ones at the end of a long journey,” Beth explains. The pincushions shown
here range in size from about 3 to 6 inches wide and also serve as small boxes,
except for the shoe (a) and the miniature table (b). Silk or velvet
cushions usually sit atop the lid, though some boxes were made with cording
along the edges of the lid where the seamstress could stick her straight pins
(c).
Heart-shaped items in general were intended as gifts for
wives and girlfriends. Shoe shapes were given as good luck tokens or presented
to young brides as a wish for fertility.
Society expected Victorian ladies to be well groomed, so hand mirrors in both
small and full sizes joined other items decorated with seashells. The 9-inch-long hand mirror (d) has a ring for the gentlewoman to hand the mirror on the wall. Pink-toned shells surround a dainty mirror (e)
Gifts from the Sea page
1 |
2
 Stumble It!
archive »
|
|
|
