Sea Shells In Art

At the sandy seashell we are enthralled by the natural beauty of the sea shell and its meaning to humans. Shells have an extraordinary history as part of our culture having been used for personal adornment art, and decoration well before written history.

Sea shell were being used as jewelry and traded or transported considerably inland as early as the stone age. Seashell necklaces were found at graves dating back to the stone age in the Dordogne valley more than 100 miles from the sea.

A common way to wear seashells as art of jewelry was to drill a small home in them and string them together. Because of the difficulty of drilling a hole without destroying the shell before the advent of modern tools early seashell artist got some help from nature. They would collect shells that had been born through by Naticidae a predatory family of snail than drill through shells in order to reach their food.

An example of setting shells into pattern or shape as we do here at the sandy seashell emerged in the Victorian era. "Sailors Valentines" were produced from the abundant and marvelous shells found upon Caribbean beaches. The shells were glue into elaborate patterns and symmetric designs like heart shapes. They were displayed in hinged boxes and often purchased by sailors to send back to loved ones and family in England.

The shell is a recurring symbol in art. One of the earliest representation is that of Aphrodite rising from the sea upon a scallop shell. It is has also had an influence upon architects and shells are a clear inspiration in the Sydney Opera House.

Shells have always been enduring symbols of the sea in human culture, prized for their beauty and incorporated into art. An interesting fact regarding the shells connection to the sea: Holding a sea shell to your ear is often said to let you hear the sound of the sea. What you are in fact hearing is the echo of your own pulse that sounds much like the washing of waves.

It's quite possible that you owe the very land beneath your feet to sea shells. Limestone is composed of crushed and compacted fragments of seashells. Like limestone shells can be dissolved by acid and sadly shell creating animals are under threat from Ocean acidification. As rising levels of Carbon Dioxide dissolve into the oceans they lower its pH. This makes it more difficult for so many organisms to build the beautiful shells that form their homes and our art.