Tuesday, April 17, 2012

N/ABC Wednesday



N is for Nacre [ney-ker]

Nacre is also known as mother-of-pearl, the iridescent layer of a mollusk shell.   The outer layer of pearls and the inside layer of pearl oyster  and freshwater pearl mussel  shells are made of nacre.  Nacre is composed of hexagonal platelets of aragonite (a form of calcium carbonate), separated by sheets of organic matrix composed of elastic biopolymers.  This mixture of brittle platelets and thin layers of elastic biopolymers makes the material strong and resilient.  Nacre has been used  over many centuries  for all kinds of decorative purposes--from buttons to furniture inlay.  From raw mother of pearl, Cebu craftsmen combined it with brass, gold or silver-plated metal and made it into something elegant and luxurious.

a mother-of-pearl butterfly dish
cast brass crab with mother-of-pearl dish


 Linking to ABC Wednesday

12 comments:

Chubskulit Rose said...

Such an Nteresting chice for this week's letter. I love that butterfly dish!

Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Carver said...

Beautiful shots and a great word for N day. Carver, ABC Wednesday Team

Reader Wil said...

I didn't know that nacre was so beautiful and that such stunning artifacts could be made of it.
A great N word!
Wil, ABC Team

EG CameraGirl said...

Nacre is a new word for me! I have always though mother-of-pearl is very pretty and the dishes are quite lovely!

Roger Owen Green said...

so beautiful! great word.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Photo Cache said...

incredible creations. i really like the finished product. i know nacres are also used for jewelry.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

our paua shells are very beautiful.

photowannabe said...

That's a new word for me. Mother of pearl dish is lovely.

MaR said...

Great, shiny word for N! love your mother-of-pearl objects.

N is for...

magiceye said...

gorgeous takes!

Gordon said...

Great choice; the dishes are exquisite.

Andrea said...

Oh you reminded me of the wing oysters, producing those pearls in the first photo. I have two of those given to me in the past, now i have to look for them.