Pretty mother-of-pearl pilgrim's cup engraved Lourdes, with its copper chatelaine and belt clip topped with a statuette of Our Lady of Lourdes.
This one has a copper attachment to connect it to a belt or a large rosary. It was originally silver-plated, but has been very appreciated and used over the years so much so that the silver has disappeared. It is attached to a copper chain which is itself connected to the beautiful mother-of-pearl shell that forms the cup.
The shell is simply engraved "Lourdes". It would have hung from the belt of a priest or nun or one of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who visited Lourdes since 1858 and drew water from its spring.
Mother-of-pearl is a natural and organic material. It is the iridescent coating synthesized by certain shells throughout their lives. This coating lines the inside of the shell, forming the smooth, iridescent lining of mollusc shells, such as oysters or mussels, for example.
It is therefore a mineral manufactured by a living being, a biomineral. The shell produces mother-of-pearl molecules with the help of specialized cells, which it deposits on the shell and sometimes on the pearl when the conditions for the birth of a pearl are met. These cells are found in the "mantle" of the animal which pass several times a day to add "bricks (aragonite) and cement (conchyoline)" (source: Specialiste-de-la-nacre.com).
It is therefore the same material that is used to make the shell and the pearl.
The word "nacre" comes from the Arabic "naqqarah". In English, it is called by the name given to it by the first Queen Elizabeth who lived in the 15th century: mother of Pearl, mother of pearls.Mother-of-pearl has been used by humans for a very long time, as tools and jewelry made in Mesopotamia have been found. Shells were used as currency of exchange all over the world; they were also used as containers: some are so large that they constitute baptismal fonts in churches. The Mayans made mother-of-pearl dental implants. The first Christians associated it with the Virgin Mary because of its purity, and the scallop shell became the emblem of the pilgrims of Compostela (source: www.vuillermoz.fr).
Its beauty is such that mother-of-pearl already represented a decorative element in Antiquity. It was inlaid in lacquer objects and wooden furniture in Japan and China. Used pure, it would also be used to make buttons. Many Chinese engravings were made of mother-of-pearl. This complex process brought great finesse to scenes of oriental life, landscapes and objects of all kinds. The work of mother-of-pearl in the Far East still respects traditions to provide decorations of very high quality. Western countries also used mother-of-pearl from the Middle Ages. It then made it possible to manufacture luxury products. In the 14th century, it was widely used to make small religious sculptures, then from the 16th century, it was used in oriental furniture as decorative inlay. Italy used mother-of-pearl in the 18th century for haberdashery and jewelry. Finally, it was noticed in the 19th century to decorate boxes and furniture (source: www.pingtipong.com/bijoux/nacre-et-histoire-de-l-art).
Mother-of-pearl has been used to make accordion buttons, jewelry, to give pearly reflections to cosmetic products... Cabinetmakers used it to marquetry furniture, like the famous Boulle who also used tortoiseshell and metal veneers.
It is a very refined object that will enrich a collection, adorn a display case or a cabinet of curiosities with elegance.
It is in excellent condition.
Dimensions: the statue measures 5 x 1 cm (7.3 cm with the 2 bales), the chain measures 15.5 cm long and the shell 9.4 cm x 5.5 cm x 3 cm, weight 38 g.
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