In article <[log in to unmask]>
           [log in to unmask] "amy sundback" writes:

> Does anyone know anything about those strange, Victorian sculptural things
made
> out of seashells...?  I hate to be so vague, and to use such technical
> terms.  Yes my ignorance is showing...

I think 'shell-work', which is defined by the OED as 'work consisting
of an arrangement of shells in patterns for ornamentation: shells lining
the walls of an artificial grotto'.  The quotations make it clear
that 3-d as well as relief work is included in the term.

--
Patricia Reynolds
Keeper of Social History, Buckinghamshire County Museum / Freelance Curator

16 Gibsons Green
Heelands
Milton Keynes
MK13 7NH
ENGLAND

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