A COLLECTION OF EIGHT 19TH CENTURY JERUSALEM MOTHER OF PEARL CARVED SHELLS OF RELIGIOUS THEME

including three depicting the Last Supper, one of the Holy Family on a donkey, the Resurrection, the Annunciation, the Sacred Family and the Nativity,

the largest 15cm wide

For similar depictions see the Bowers' Museum, California, Inv. No. 31521. These carved shells are pilgrimage souvenirs, and the Bowers' Museum states 'Though it lacks any sort of markings aside from the city name, this piece is stylistically highly consistent with other mother-of-pearl keepsakes dating from the 19th Century'. Mother of pearl was commonly used in decoration produced in the Holy Land as the shells were left over from clam fishing in the Mediterranean and Red Sea.

Provenance: Marie-Claude Fabius, a respected London antiques dealer was passionate about her treasured shell collection, amassed over many years. She descended from a long dynasty of famous Parisian antique dealers.