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Mother of pearl’s iridescent and shimmering colours are a natural mystery. The coating on the inside of shells, also known as nacre, was one of the first materials used by humans to make jewellery and ornaments.
The colour apparently inspires creativity and great ideas, perhaps as a result of its delicate yet striking reflections. Mother of pearl, with its myriad hues, also epitomises elegance and luxury, and it is no surprise that it is used in all four corners of the globe for the widest array of purposes.
Today we’d like to find out a bit more about this material and its distinctive colour. Welcome to the underwater world of mother of pearl!
What colour is mother of pearl?
Mother of pearl usually refers to the material found inside various shells. In its natural form it has a very distinctive iridescent white colour, with shimmering reflections of pink, green, white and blue that move around in the light. It is thought that mother of pearl’s various hues have a calming effect and help to stimulate creativity and intuition.
However, when it is printed or used in an artificial form in furniture or graphic design, mother of pearl is typically a very stylish pale white colour with hazelnut undertones.
The Pantone colour code for mother of pearl is 12-1006 TPX. If you want to use it in a digital project, its HEX code is #f7edec.
Mother of pearl’s origins
Now, it you’ll excuse us, it’s time for a quick scientific digression: the origin of the material that gives mother of pearl its name is so fascinating it would be a shame not to share it! Mother of pearl, or nacre, is an organic material, i.e. one produced by living creatures – specifically, by various species of marine mollusc that use it to line the inside of their shells. The whole process is still shrouded in mystery, but it seems to start when a grain of sand or other material comes into contact with the mollusc’s soft tissue. To protect itself, the mollusc creates these layers made of calcium carbonate and a protein called conchiolin.
Many sea-dwelling molluscs produce this special covering inside their shells, but the most famous and highly sought-after are found in the tropical waters of the Red Sea, in the Persian Gulf, in Sri Lanka, in the former Dutch East Indies, and along the coasts of Australia, China and Japan.
Extracting and processing nacre is far from simple: you need to separate the shell from its outer crust and cut the material carefully, thinking about how it will be used. The iridescent mother of pearl is then cleaned, either by hand or using special equipment. Despite these challenges, people have appreciated mother of pearl since the beginning of time, enchanted by its unique colour and using it for special objects and ornaments.
Mother of pearl, a colour that has fascinated humanity for millennia
Mother of pearl, found in the shells of certain molluscs and inside pearls, was one of the first materials ever used as decoration. Early humans made holes in the shells with the most stunning colours and wore them as ornaments. The first mother of pearl artefacts were found in what is now Turkey, dating from around 8,000 years ago.
In China, mother of pearl was used to embellish furniture and decorative objects. And recent research has uncovered that it was also used by the ancient Romans to decorate their villas on the Iberian peninsula. The material was also very popular during the Renaissance, used predominantly to depict religious scenes, but also in inlay work and other decorations.
From the seventeenth century, another mother of pearl fashion took off: buttons! Mother of pearl buttons became so famous that in the early nineteenth century the button industry got through over 100 tonnes of oysters every year.
But the fascination with mother of pearl and its iridescent colour transcends time and space, incorporating the widest possible array of uses. Here is a selection of examples from all over the world and from different historical periods.
Furniture, clothes and design: the colour mother of pearl today
Mother of pearl and its elegant colour are still a source of inspiration for furniture-makers and the worlds of fashion and design to this day. It is not uncommon to see mother of pearl-colour creations on the catwalk: the fashion house Chanel made widespread use of it in 2011, for example, with a variety of iridescent garments and themed backdrops.
One creative who makes a lot of mother of pearl and pearl items is the British fashion designer Simone Rocha. In 2014, Rocha added (fake) pearls to the collars, cuffs and knee-high socks in her collection, and just carried on! Her work includes a handbag that looks like a giant pearl and some stylish mother of pearl-colour earrings.
Chanel, as well as using mother of pearl on the catwalk, also makes use of it in vintage sunglasses. Many models feature an insert of the famous double-C Chanel logo in a mother of pearl-colour hue.
Away from the catwalks, there are plenty of interesting examples of the material being used in design and pop culture. Fender – the iconic brand of electric guitars – used mother of pearl inserts for the pickguard on several models of one of its top instruments: the Stratocaster. The eighties style this evokes is much sought-after by people today with a feeling of nostalgia for that era. However, in some cases, the love for the material is a little OTT, as seen in this guitar made entirely of mother of pearl.
In interior decor, meanwhile, mother of pearl is almost exclusively a colour that epitomises elegance, sometimes with a retro touch. It is often used in mosaic form in high-class bathrooms to frame mirrors or to brighten up various accessories. A mother of pearl finish can also be used to embellish floors and furniture.
How about you? What do you think about the colour mother of pearl? Would you consider using it in your next design project?