What is Mother of Pearl?

What is Mother of Pearl? Mother of Pearl or Nacre, is the hard, silvery, brilliant internal layer of several kinds of shells, particularly of the oyster family, often variegated with changing purple and azure colors. It is destitute of coloring matter, but is composed of a series of minute and slightly imbricated layers or ridges, which have the power of splitting the rays of light, thus producing beautiful rainbow-like hues. The large oysters of the tropical seas alone secrete this coat of sufficient thickness to render their shells available for the purposes of manufacture. Mother-of-pearl is extensively used in the arts, particularly in inlaid work, and in the manufacture of handles for knives, buttons, toys, snuffboxes and other small articles.