MOther of pearl

 MOther of pearl

Designers often use mother of pearl for bespoke furniture pieces, most commonly in the form of mosaic tile designs, but also for marquetry detailing.

Mother of pearl refers to the iridescent lining that’s found in the inner surface of a nacre-producing mollusc’s shell. Another term for mother of pearl is nacre, which is the substance that forms pearls. Mother of pearl is made of aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate, formed by the pearl oyster, as well as freshwater pearl mussels and abalone. Nacre is secreted by the mollusc as a defence mechanism against irritants and abrasions that find their way into the shell. Over time, the creature secretes layers of nacre which smoothen the surface of the shell and entombs any irritants that cling to the inner surface of the shell.

Mother of pearl is generally opaque to translucent in appearance and is typically white, cream or off-white in colour, however, you’ll also come across grey, silver, yellow, black, blue-green and red varieties.