Tortoiseshell and Boulle

By Antiques & Old World Charms

 

Tortoiseshell from the shells of turtles, normally the Hawkshill marine turtle found off the coast of Brazil or Indian ocean. The tortoiseshell are mottled in amber, dark brown and red. Its attractive luster have made it a much sought after treasure of the sea for thousands of years. The Romans imported tortoiseshell from the East and used it for inlay work on furniture and small decorative articles ever since.

 

Genuine tortoiseshell can be distinguished from modern plastic imitations by its yellow-brown fluorescence in ultra-violet light, also when sawn or filed it gives off a pungent odor.

 

Boulle is a single plate of shell can be split or sawn into several veneers and used to inlay furniture. The technique for inlaying tortoiseshell with brass and other metals applied to furniture decoration originated in Ital in the 16th century. By the 17th century it is found in Germany, and in the 17th and 18th centuries in France and England. Boulle work most highly developed by Andre Charles Boulle was appointed master ebonist to Louis XIV in 1672 and made much of the furniture for Versailles.

 

Boulle work was fashionable in England during the 18th century and was a popular style of decoration on long case clocks. From the 1820's onward tortoiseshell received a revival in popularity for a range of decorative items such as Victorian combs, snuff boxes, boxes, book covers, and tea caddies often with pique pose (fine gold or silver strips) or pique points (tortoiseshell and ivory forming the design).

 

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