 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Chainsaw Chuck Erikson
Specialists in Mother of Pearl (M.O.P.) and other nacreous shell, both artifacts and raw materials.
Exclusively on Ruby Lane. Member since July 2005 View Profile
Exclusively on Ruby Lane. Member since July 2005 View Profile
Pearlescence and chatoyance predominate, with occasional ivory, amber, linens, china, and select "smalls".
| Chainsaw Chuck Erikson > All Items | Page 1 of 3 Go to page: |
$38 USDC.1820 Georgian, Ivory Folding Toothpick
Collectibles:Vanity Items:Personal Accessories
Of elephant ivory, 1 5/16" closed, 2 13/16" fully opened. Three long triangular picks swing out at one end for light-duty after-dinner mop-up, the other end is mounted with a heavier stationary carved claw for dealing with serious clean-up. 180 years ago, unless you were a peasant working the fields, using a straw or a whittled twig wasn't considered proper hygienic etiquette when prying old sweetmeats from your dentures. A person with any class at all would always have one of these nifty little ...
$75 USDVintage Metal Cherub Or Putto Lamp, Electric, Unsigned
Collectibles:Lamps, Lighting
Cast from heavy white-metal, with a dark reddish-gold finish, this lamp presents us with an enigmatic putto (sort of like a cherub, but no wings) who seems to be attempting an escape from a large carnivorous plant. His hands apparently clutch unidentifiable lumpy shreds of the plant's last meal, and on close inspection from behind there appear to be diapers wadded up between his legs. Very distressing. Perhaps he's just waiting for someone like yourself to shed new light on his predicament! The ...
$138 USDLate 1800's Ivory and Silver Carnet du Bal, or Aide Memoire
Antiques:Vanity Items:Personal Accessories
This little 3" x 1 1/2" personal notebook, also classified generally as a "necessaire" or specifically as a "dance card", was an early personal organizer used by Victorian ladies to jot down important social appointments (such as pending dance partners at the very formal but genteel balls of the time). Judging by the barely visible imprint of long-erased pencil writing, the former owner of this one had a rather busy Monday and Tuesday, but sat waiting in vain the remainder of the week for her ...
$850 USDc.1870 French Fan, Painted Vellum & Engraved Gilt Mother of Pearl MOP
Antiques:Textiles, Linens:Fans
This attractive Victorian fan has a length of 10.5”, with 14 M.O.P. sticks of white Australian ocean pearl oyster (Pinctada maxima), spanning 175 degrees fully opened. The rivet has pearl eyes, and its loop is finely embossed. The double vellum (or “chicken-skin”) leaf is painted on the front with a romantic and musical island scene involving two gentlemen, a trio of maidens, and four very sleepy-looking sheep, one of the couples practicing the very difficult maneuver of flute-playing using one ...
$115 USDVictorian Stag's Head Letter Opener, Mother of Pearl, Antler, & Brass
Collectibles:Desk Top:Accessories
Although unmarked, this rustic paper slitter is typical of work done in Germany or Austria around the late 1800's. 8 1/2" long, with a nicely figured and very wide (1 1/4") M.O.P. blade of Australian white ocean pearl oyster (Pinctada maxima) anchored to a curved handle made from the tip or prong of a deer antler. Joining the two sections is an ornately embossed and darkly patinated brass fitting in the form of a stag's head atop an ornamental base, a left-facing head on each side of the blade ...
$45 USD"Long Beach" Mother of Pearl Dip Pen, Carved M.O.P. Feather
Collectibles:Writing Instruments:Dip Pens
Very popular as tourist mementos around the end of the 19th century, most dipping ink pens of this type were crudely fashioned, unornamented, and labeled using a plain font printed decal. This souvenir pen, extra long at 6.75", required a bit more time and skill in executing the abrasive-wheel engraved design and the hand-done ornately scripted "Long Beach Cal." lettering. In unused condition, the M.O.P. letter opener is (dull) knife-edged and undamaged, with lettering 100% complete and ...
$65 USDVintage Whole Carved Engraved Tahitian Black Mother of Pearl Shell
Collectibles:Decorative:Carved M.O.P. Items
From Tahiti, c.1950's, an excellent example of a popular tourist item made from the famous M.O.P. shell which is unique to that island, the beautifully dark and dusky black-lip ocean pearl oyster (Pinctada margaritifera), the same species which yields the rare and exotic black necklace pearls. The shell itself is 6 1/4" in diameter, and at almost 3/4 lb. would now be considered commercially an especially thick and heavy shell (even trimmed as it is!), with the typical white-banded black bark on ...
$295 USDVictorian Card Case, Oversized Engraved Mother of Pearl MOP
Antiques:Vanity Items:Calling Card Cases
C. 1880 English calling card case ("carte de visite" case), oversized at 4" x 3", and in new mint condition! The M.O.P. quilted diamond parquet work uses unusually large pieces of African Green Sea Snail (Turbo marmoratus), known both for its exceptional iridescence and the spectacular rolling movement of light inherited from the strong curvature in the raw shell. Bordering the front face are four rows of the fine geometric engraving known as "engine turning", and although done with a special ...
$105 USDVintage Pre-1960's Large Metal Necklace and Pendants, German
Jewelry:Vintage:Necklaces
This strikingly ostentatious all-metal multi-strand monstrosity is not for the timid! A massive 18" long stretched end to end, the smallest loop 21" in circumference. The strands of embossed hollow-formed links suspend 3 gold-toned openwork cast metal pendants (one 2" diameter, and two at 1 1/8"). The large 5/8" d. spring box catch makes getting this thing on and off a fast and easy one-person operation. Actually, the informal provenance is interesting, for what it's worth. My wife was given ...
$45 USD1800's Dip Pen, Carved Mother of Pearl MOP
Collectibles:Writing Instruments:Dip Pens
Very slender and dainty, with a top edge scalloped ridge and a gentle hook or claw at the end, this simple but relatively unusual variation on the M.O.P. paper slitting handle sets this little 5.625" dipping ink pen apart from most others! The grip is simply decorated with machined knurling, and holds an "L. Jackson & Co. No. 2" nib. The non-original nib has been bent and one of the tines is missing its platinum tip, and the brass holder has lost its lacquer finish, but since the pen is free of ...
$28 USDVintage C.1970's Green Multi Strand Necklace & Large Round Pendant
Jewelry:Vintage:Necklaces
The many shades of green help establish and retain visual interest in this beautiful 18" diameter vintage necklace: 29 tri-color green braided-fiber strands, a 2" d. mandala-style pendant with chartreuse resin filled cavities, the pendant and it's sliding bolo-mount surfaced with dark green glitter under clear resin, both also centered with a yellow-green faceted glass jewel suggestive of Peridot or Olivine. Unsigned. All metal parts are dark copper toned, the lobster-claw catch works smoothly, ...
$55 USDVictorian Clothes Brush, Black Horn with Mother of Pearl Abalone inlays
Collectibles:Vanity Items:Personal Accessories
From a nameless English workshop of the early 1800's, a beautiful 9" x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" clothing brush, made not from the usual wood or plastic but of genuine steer horn, boiled, flattened, shaped, and dyed solid black. Natural blond horsehair bristles are mounted through small holes in a horn slab which is in turn laminated to a larger top slab, ornamented with pieces of Green abalone (Haliotis fulgens) and African Green sea snail (Turbo marmoratus) inlaid in a delicate floral stem pattern ...
$30 USDVintage Necklace, Large Salmon Colored Plastic Beads and Filigree Metal
Jewelry:Vintage:Necklaces
With large, round, bright salmon-pink plastic beads, there's nothing shy about this vintage necklace! The beads are capped and linked by gold-toned cast metal filigree fittings, and a large spring ring clasp holds things together. 21 1/2" long when looped with the ends attached. For what it's worth, this has a personal provenance. My wife Cheryl was given this in the early 1960's by a friend who had found it along with a few other things several years previously while on a trip to Germany, in a ...
$125 USD1800's MOP Dip Pen, Fancy Carved Mother of Pearl feather
Antiques:Writing Instruments:Dip Pens
This 6.25" beauty is an example of the more ornate style of feather-shaped M.O.P. letter opener handle so popular on dipping ink pens of over 100 years ago. The pearl was hand engraved to suggest typical plumage, using small diameter mechanical abrasive discs (as in cut glass), and is mounted to a machine tooled grip or nib holder. The nib itself is probably not original, has very slightly tweaked tine tips, and is stamped "Colorado No 2". In excellent, but not mint, condition, showing only the ...
$25 USD1880's Sash Buckle, Fancy Carved Mother of Pearl/M.O.P.
Collectibles:Vanity Items:Buckles
3" x 1 1/4", hand cut and shaped from a naturally curved section of white ocean pearl oyster shell (Pinctada maxima), deeply incised or engraved with geometric patterns. The steel retaining wire is anchored by a hand hammered brass flange at both ends, each fastened by two facet-headed steel pins. No chips, repairs or other damage, and a good example of better buckles of the period.
$35 USD1926 3-Pc. "L.A." Abalone Manicure Set, Mother of Pearl MOP
Collectibles:Vanity Items:Manicure Sets
As the embossed "De Luxe brand" gold paper label guarantees, this minimalist M.O.P. set consisting only of a nail file, cuticle tool, and corn knife are fashioned from hefty chunks of California red abalone shell (Haliotis rufescens), beautifully colorful and lustrous! Still tied down to a black velvet backer board, and in the original 6.75" x 2.75" box, which has been re-papered in a Christmas theme of holly and pine branches. Hand-penciled inside the box underneath the backer board is: "From ...
$75 USDLate Victorian Large Carved Sea Shell Serving Spoons, Philippines
Collectibles:Tableware:Servers
An intact matched set of 9 1/4" long serving spoons, the M.O.P. bowls made from 4 3/4" pearlescent fresh-water mussel shells (Unio sp.) mated with beautifully cut-away Imperial Volute (or "Bailer") shell (Cymbiola imperialis) handles. These were typical tourist items made and marketed around the early 1900's to visitors in the Southern Philippines. Construction is very sturdy, the two shells of each spoon well overlapped, and fastened with three brass rivets anchored to a crudely cut thin brass ...
$125 USD1860 Birmingham Folding Fruit Knife by Morton, Silver Engraved Mother of Pearl MOP
Antiques:Vanity Items:Fruit Knives
A feminine 5" long when opened, this delicious little fruit-slicer qualifies as one of the more moderately ornate examples, with its hard-to-find fancy shaped handle, hand engraved M.O.P. scales (vase and flowers on the front, a double starburst on the reverse), unengraved oval silver shield, and chased "step and crosshatch" pattern on the silver-clad backspring! Oddly, there is no duty mark on the blade. From the workbench of "WM" (William Morton, 2 Court, Commercial Street, Sheffield, ...
$35 USD1916 French Women's Journal, Christ on Cover, Fan & Decorative Patterns
Collectibles:Magazines, Periodicals
From Paris, France, a July 15, 1916, Summer Issue No. 20, of the French women's publication "Journal des Demoiselles", containing various articles of "Instruction" and "Education". The drawing on the front cover, captioned "L'Ombre de la Mort", depicts an ecstatic Christ in Joseph's shop, surrounded by carpenter's tools and wood shavings, a lead-in to the two-and-a-half page feature article entitled "La Legende de la Croix". Other contents deal with everything from flowers to contemporary ...
$325 USD1860's French Engraved Mother of Pearl 3 Piece Desk Set, Cased
Antiques:Writing Instruments:Dip Pens
A rare, beautiful, and intact set of very ornate Victorian carved M.O.P. writing tools, all engraved on one side with a matching floral motif, the handle edges serrated by hand-sawing small X-shaped cuts. The massiveness of all three pieces would only be possible if exceptionally thick shells of very large Australian ocean pearl oysters (Pinctada maxima) were used, of a size that have not been commercially available now for decades! The letter opener, also used as a paper slitter to separate ...
$12 USD1980's Ceramic "Rose Bud" Stud Earrings, White, Pink, and Green
Jewelry:Vintage:Earrings
A happy little pair of unfolding ceramic rose buds, each with soft white petals, a pale pink center, and a single tiny green leaf. 3/4" (19mm) diameter, and about 1/2" (12mm) tall. Mounted on studs with butterfly fasteners. Never worn, still on the red foam sponge they started with. Nice, quiet, not challenging anyone or anything, but very 3-dimensional!
$55 USDLate 1800's English Dip Pen, Bump Carved Mother of Pearl MOP
Collectibles:Writing Instruments:Dip Pens
One of several dipping ink pens we have available, carved in this "twiggy" or "knobby" style which is meant to create extra movement of light in the shell as its position is shifted. Total length is 6 1/8". Four rows of knobs taper to a delicate point in the lustrous white ocean pearl (Pinctada maxima) handle, which is socketed to a gold plated holder with machine engraved texturing in the grip area. The smaller diameter nib holding section contains an old "Elmwood Pen Co 1" nib with slightly ...
$135 USD1892 Commercial Formulas/Techniques, "Receipts and Processes", W.B. Dick,
Books:Antique:Arts And Industry
This is a fifth edition of one of the more gigantic old books of long-forgotten technical knowledge, 9 3/4" x 7" x 2 1/2" thick, with 607 pages containing 6,422 numbered receipts, including 2 pages of general contents and 42 pages of small print alphabetical subject index. Whatever it is, it's in here whether you can name it or not. Much of the material is outdated and risky, but even more of it is still useful or advantageous, and all of it's absolutely fascinating -- just take care to not wear ...
$220 USDMappin Fish Knife & Spoon Set, Silverplate & Ivory, Hallmarked
Antiques:Tableware:Servers
A beautifully hand-made C.1870's set, off the workbenches of the well-known English company Mappin Bros. All the metalwork piercing is hand-sawn (not punched), with the decorative engraving also executed by hand (not stamped). The full-round African elephant ivory handles have acquired a mellow off-white color typical of age and are hand carved, each with seven elegant straight flutes separated by a narrow bead. The fork measures 9.625"; the flat spoon is 12.125", is hallmarked on the reverse, ...
$22 USDMother of Pearl Engraved Cross Pendant, C.1960's Bethlehem
Collectibles:Religious:Rosaries And Crosses
A tiny 1 1/4" x 15/16" cross made from African Green sea snail (Turbo marmoratus), a type of M.O.P. displaying much figure and movement when moved in the light, a remnant of the raw shell's strong curvature. The design is simple but striking with two levels of carving, the saw-cut and pierced edging highlighting a plain Christian cross. In perfect condition. Although unmarked, this is definitely from the hands of a craftsman in Bethlehem, since Jerusalem shops produced items that were less ...
$55 USDMint Late 1800's Dip Pen, Branch Carved Mother of Pearl MOP
Collectibles:Writing Instruments:Dip Pens
One of several similarly shaped pearl dipping ink pens we have listed, this is a perfect example of the style known also as "twig", "bump", or "knob" carving. Starting with a squared and tapered stem of white ocean pearl oyster (Pinctada maxima), material is filed or ground away along each edge to produce alternating projections which tend to add movement of the light with each shift of the pen's position. Usually, enough material is removed to form a rounded shape between the bumps, but ...
$45 USDMother of Pearl Carved & Engraved Cross Pendant, C.1940 Jerusalem
Collectibles:Religious:Rosaries And Crosses
Exceptionally large at 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" this lustrous white M.O.P. cross is deeply engraved with a central stylized rose and leaves. The hand engraved "Jerusalem" on the reverse is consistent with the simple "log-like" and relatively two-dimensional style so associated with pieces produced in this city (as contrasted with the more ornate pierced fretwork typical of pieces from Bethlehem). These were sold as mementos to Holy Land tourists, with this vacant cross being intended for Protestant ...
$21 USD1991 Large Handmade "Wild Rose" Ceramic Stud Earrings
Jewelry:Vintage:Earrings
A large and softly beautiful set of ear decor, each a delicately crafted wild rose with pink petals and mustard yellow centers, backed by three little honeysuckles, all sitting on a leafy green base. 1 1/2" in diameter, mounted on studs with soft plastic disc clasps. Never worn, still with the original box and sales receipt for $28.62, both marked as from "Mountain Song, 104 N. Pine St., Nevada City, Ca." The backer card to which the earrings are attached reads on the front "Julie de Roche" ...
$215 USDMid-1800's 11" Ebony French Cross, Inlaid Mother of Pearl M.O.P.
Collectibles:Religious:Rosaries And Crosses
From France in the reign of Napoleon III (1850-1870) an ornately embellished ebony wood cross, with the "trifoliate" or "budding" arm ends so typical of old European work. The backside is plain, with no attachments for hanging. The front is finely inlaid and engraved with scrolled floral elements, grapevines, and borders, all done using the pale but extremely colorful and iridescent nacre of the African green sea snail (Turbo marmoratus), the strong curvature of the raw shell responsible for ...
$25 USDMother of Pearl Engraved Crucifix Cross Pendant, Early 1800's Jerusalem
Collectibles:Religious:Rosaries And Crosses
This 1 7/8" x 1 1/16" white M.O.P. cross has engraved on it the hanging figure of Christ, the faintly legible remains of a skull at the base, and a top arm banner with the letters "INRI" (an abbreviation for the Latin "Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum", meaning "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"). Unmarked, but the simple "log-like" unornamented style tells us it was produced in Jerusalem (as contrasted with the pierced fretwork typical of Bethlehem), as a souvenir for visitors to the Holy Land ...
Follow us on Twitter Fan us on Facebook
Ruby Lane Home |
About Ruby Lane, Inc. |
Privacy Policy |
Terms of Use |
Site Map |
Email Ruby Lane |
Help |
FAQ Knowledge Base
Copyright © 1998-2009 Ruby Lane Inc. ® All Rights Reserved.
