India has a long history with mother of pearl, its seas once rich in pearl oysters. When Marco Polo visited the Gulf of Mannar off the southernmost tip of India in 1294, he saw up to 500 ships harvesting pearl oyster beds. And over the centuries, Rajasthan\u2019s neighbouring state, Gujarat, has played a key role in using mother of pearl in decorative woodware.<\/p>\n

The material is not purely of Indian origin, however. \u2018The Ancient Egyptians were using mother of pearl in at least 4200 BC \u2013 pieces have been found in pyramids and tombs of the ruling classes,\u2019 says Matthew Thomas, Bonhams<\/a> specialist in Islamic and Indian Art. \u2018From archaeological evidence, we know that mother of pearl was also used by the Mesopotamians as far back as 2500 BC. It was certainly popular in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) \u2013 although it had been in use in China much earlier during the Bronze Age of the Shang dynasty (1500-1050 BC).\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

From the beginning, mother of pearl was used as it is today \u2013 mostly for decorative inlay \u2013 and it was both carved and engraved. At first it was thought mother of pearl oyster beds existed in only three regions \u2013 the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the India-Sri Lanka coast, but European explorers on voyages of discovery found pearl oyster beds throughout tropical waters. The shells were soon collected and sent around the world as people clambered to own a piece of this lustrous treasure from the sea. In the 16th century, raw mother of pearl from the Philippines would travel in galleons to Mexico and then across land to ships bound for Spain. From the 17th century, China imported raw shell from Indonesia to make gaming counters for rich Europeans, and sold surplus stock overseas.<\/p>\n