Shells.(Brandywine River Museum )

Since the early seventeenth century exotic shells from the warm waters of the Pacific and the Caribbean fascinated learned and affluent Europeans. In Germany, for example, skilled and imaginative goldsmiths crafted exquisite settings for nautilus and other exotic shells, which all over Europe occupied a revered place in cabinets of curiosities. From the East Coast of the United States seafarers went far afield for luxury goods and spent long periods at sea in search of whales. Along the way they made or purchased humble objects to bring home to their loved ones. These included finished shellwork boxes, called "shell mosaics" in the nineteenth century and now known as sailors' valentines, which were produced commercially in the West Indies, particularly on Barbados. Shells were also an integral component of craft work undertaken at home by fashionable women in the nineteenth century. An exhibition that surveys this topic is on view at the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, until July 23. It is entitled Treasures from the Sea: Sailors' Valentines and Shellwork. Some forty examples of shell-work are on view and include sailors' valentines, dolls and other figures, mirrors, baskets, and floral bouquets.

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Women stored their shells in specially made cabinets fitted with compartments that separated the shells by size, shape, and color. These cases could be quite functional or fairly ...