Gem and Ornamental

MIScaLzANaOUS ORGANICS 231Figure 12.9buttons.Vegetable ivory carvings: sewing notdle case, hippo, undfled until after it has been dyed and varnished the result is a wlouredbackground with white spots; however, an all-over colour is more usual.In the 1920s a method was found whereby the skin could be decalcifiedand tanned, which softened it.Shagreen has been used to bind the hilts of swords, as it is decmtiveand gives a good grip. Japanese warriors had &covered this by theeighth centuq, and the mated was again put to this use in theArnericsn Civil War.In Asia, in the 5fteenth century, it was used to cover trunks andcoffess. Three hundred years later in Europe it wag occaidy used asan inlay or or for luxury items. her, in the art deco movement (thedecorative style of the 1920s d 19308), it became very popular andwas used to decorate all manner of objects, hm jewellery to furniture.Boxes, humidjjiers, toilemy sets and games pieces were the moreusual bases for the material, often in conjunction with ivory edgingwig.12.6). Today shagreen is still manufactured, though on a muchsmaller scale. Popular items are picture kames and small boxes. In rareinstances it also appears on jewellery.It is uncommon to W a shagmen fake, but some were made at theheight of the mated's popularity in the twentieth century. They arenot convincing the them1 product hag s slightly uneven surface dueto the denticles, while a fake is made of a printed laminate and is toeallysmooth.