120 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



a very suggestive analysis, for decorative 

 uses, of shell outlines which, half conven- 

 tionalized and more or less intricately 

 interwoven, form patterns possibly of 

 wide adaptability to domestic and pul)- 

 lic ornament, in wall papers, curtains, 

 embroidery and textiles. 



The subject has an a\'ailal)le circuit 

 of application not fully realized, and a 

 significant illustration of this may be 

 seen in a recently completed design l)y 

 Mr. F. B. Clark for a fountain, here re- 

 produced through the kindness of the 

 sculptor. The wall of the l)asin in 

 which the graceful mermaid surmounts 

 a seaweed-draped rock, tantalizing with 

 a reed the mutinous crustacean, has a 

 cornice or frieze made up of a contin- 

 uous, interblended train of seashells. 



As a very curious adjunct to the aspect 

 of shell ornamental uses was the dis- 

 covery in a Franco-Merovingian bury- 

 ing ground at Nesles-lez-Verlinctness in 

 France of a Cyproea panther ina (habi- 

 tat — Red Sea to Australia), which had 

 been used as an ornament or perhaps as 

 an amulet; and the further statement by 

 Dr. Tiberi, in a memoir on the shells 

 found at Pompeii, that these same 

 shells were apparently valued by the 



Roman women of that ill-fated city, as 

 amulets. 



Perhaps the most original, and in a 

 sense presiunptuous use of shells for or- 

 nament is the recent successful attempt 

 to coat them with a dull silver film 

 which, being electrolytically applied, re- 

 produces with fidelity every feature and 

 detail of the shell's surface. Examples 

 of such shells are on exhibition in the 

 Museum. These silverized shells sup- 

 port ^•ariousIy designed implements, or 

 themselves form finished vessels, handles 

 anfl ornaments. The effects are ingeni- 

 ously diversified by combining with the 

 shells other objects, such as sea urchins, 

 and by combining contrasted types of 

 shells into an artistic composition.^ 



In the shell hall of the Museum Mr. 

 Albert Operti has most effectively turned 

 to account the outlines of seaweeds as 

 decoratixe adjuncts, the pecten (P. ir- 

 radians and P. pallium) as an escutcheon, 

 and the beautiful big conch of our east- 

 ern coast {F. carica) as a dividing pillar. 

 These, treated vividly in color, produce 

 a charming miu'al frieze which gives the 

 hall a needed aesthetic relief. 



1 This interesting ware is manufactured by Mr. 

 L. E. Tuzo of Fatiwood, New Jersey. 



