Shark Treasures 



195 



The skin of the Cowtail ray ( Dasyatis sephen ) is used for making drums and tam- 

 bourines in Sumatra, and for making sword hilts in Japan, where it is called the Pearl 

 ray because of the pearl-like dermal denticles in the middle of its back. When used 

 for decorative purposes, the denticles are highly polished and left in the hide. 



Courtesy, Sydney and Melbourne Publishing Co. from 

 The Fishes of Australia by G. P. Whitley, 1940 



In the seventeenth century, when shagreen-covered objects, such as 

 jewel cases, were brought out of the Orient by travelers, word of the 

 beautiful, durable leather spread all over Europe, and shagreen artisans 

 began an art which has been almost forgotten today. By the eighteenth 

 century, the art had become so developed that a guild of segrnywerkers 

 (shagreen workers) sprang up in Holland, and in France a skilled pair 

 of shagreen artists won lingual immortality. This rare honor— for France 

 guards her language with a fierce pride— was bestowed upon Jean-Claude 

 Galluchat and his son Denis-Claude. Their exquisite shagreen was called 

 gahichat, a term still used in France for polished shark and ray skin. 



Ink stands, portrait frames, cases for silverware, spectacles, and 

 watches were made of galuchat. Fine editions of books were bound with 



