Shell Art: A Handbook for Making Shell Flowers, Mosaics, Jewelry, and Other Ornaments

by Dover Publications

Take a look at the beautiful color illustrations of shell art on the cover and in the color insert of this book. All these beautiful creations were made from sea shells, and some are even part of valuable art collections. Using gathered and purchased shells of numerous species, sizes, and colors, you too can make beautiful shell flowers and other kinds of shell art with this handbook to guide you. After telling you how and where to collect specific kinds of shells, the author explains how to prepare them for use and lists materials and tools necessary for making shell flowers. She then describes the basic forms of flower how to make flower parts, buds, and foliage; how to produce some 50 specific flowers; from bridle-wreath and buttercups to viburnum and zinnia; and how to arrange and care for yor shell bouquet. She then shows you how to use shells to make shell mosaics, underwater pictures, montages and other decorations, shell animals and dolls, and shell jewelry. 41 drawings, 11 photographs, and 14 color photographs illustrate procedures and finished articles. You need no knowledge of botany or ability in craft work to follow the author's instructions and begin making shelf flowers that are both beautiful and botanically accurate. The Victorian art of making flowers of natural-colored sea shells inspired the writing of this book, and this book will certainly inspire the revival of this wonderful craft among many shell collections.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1976

About the author

Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward Cirker and his wife, Blanche. It publishes primarily reissues, books no longer published by their original publishers. These are often, but not always, books in the public domain. The original published editions may be scarce or historically significant. Dover republishes these books making them available at a significantly reduced cost.

Dover is well known for its reprints of classic works of literature, classical sheet music and of public-domain images from the 18th and 19th centuries. Dover also publishes an extensive collection of mathematical, scientific and engineering texts. It often targets its reprints at a niche market such as wood working.

Most Dover reprints are facsimiles by photo process of the originals, retaining the original pagination and typeset, sometimes with a new introduction. Dover will usually add new and more colorful cover art to its paper-bound editions. They retitle some books to make them more in line with modern usage and categorization. For example, the book Woodward's National Architect was retitled A Victorian Housebuilder's Guide.

Reviews

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel bad reviewing this book as I really just skimmed through it but because it is really dated and lacks clear step-by-step photos I don't think it's a great option for those wanting information on creating items with shells. The b&w illustrations of the sea shells are nice enough as are the ones showing different flower armatures. My library copy of the book was published in 1965.

[Mlg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit dated but helpful for shell flower construction and shell types