Container

The pearly shell-tiled surface of this cylindrical container shimmers with passing light. The prayer verse “Ave Maria,” or “Hail Mary,” a Christian cross, and other symbols decorate the object. Skilled laborers in Gujarāt, India, expertly carved the material by hand and fastened each piece in place using silver pins. Portuguese merchants and Franciscan missionaries commissioned boxes like this one for export to Europe for religious and secular purposes. The complex pattern and iridescence of the shell would have captured the imagination of those who saw it.