Title: Inlaid Mother of Pearl Syrian gaming table
Catalog Number: 3401
Category: Furniture / Tables
Artist:
Country & Origin:
Historical Period: 19th Century
Approximate Date: 1880
Signature: Unsigned
Condition: Museum Quality
Size:
Height: 26
Width: 13
Depth:
Weight:
Description & Provenance: This unusual and intricately inlayed mother of pearl gaming table is an exquisite example of its genre. Featuring a swivel folding top with a hidden compartment for gaming pieces. It comes complete with a green felt top for card playing, majong etcetra and an inlayed compartment for backgammon fichas storage. From Damasus, Syria and dates from the late 1800's.
Origin, Encyclopedia & Researched Articles:
Encyclopedia Name: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_of_pearl
Nacre pronounced /ˈneɪkər/[1] or "NAY-kər", also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up pearls. It is very strong, resilient, and iridescent.
Nacre is found in some ancient lineages of bivalve gastropod and cephalopod. The inner layer in the great majority of mollusk shells is porcellaneous, not nacreous, frequently resulting in a non-iridescent shine or less commonly in non-nacreous iridescence such as flame structure (e.g. conch pearl).
Pearls and the inside layer of pearl oyster and freshwater pearl mussel shells are made of nacre. Many other families of mollusk also have a nacreous inner shell layer, including marine gastropods such as the Haliotidae, the Trochidae and the Turbinidae.
Verbal History:
This beautiful piece was acquired in Buenos Aries, Argentina on a buying trip in 2002.
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