Mother-of-Pearl Animal Sculptures

A rich dark brown hand-carved owl sculpture, circa 20th century. Owl has expressive eyes, pointy beak, and small mother-of-pearl accent detail at top center. Piece is entirely hand-crafted. Measures 3.32" Height. Pink onyx owl...

Vintage solid brass turtle with inlaid mother of pearl lidded shell top. Handcrafted hinged brass turtle trinket box can be used for small pieces o...

Rare Pair of large Birds or Chickadee sculptures / figures by Jonson & Marcius in black lacquered cast resin with mother of pearl cabochons and brass insets, feet and beaks purchased...

Originally Watrous made bells and iron nickel-plated toys, this is a rare example of one of his horses done in sterling silver. The horse is fitted with a saddle and bridle and looks like he or she is pracing on a sliver of mother of pearl stand with 3 curls sterling feet. It is marked sterling and has a CW hallmark. Biography information for 925-100 Watrous Mfg. Co. Wallingford, Connecticut 1896 - Present Originally plated wares, began sterling line in the 1920s. Successors to Maltby, Stevens Co., in 1898 Watrous became a division of International. More biography regarding toy manufacturing Posted by BellToyBoy on July 3, 2012 A brief history of Watrous Manufacturing Co. In “Bell Town” East Hampton, Connecticut, David Watson Watrous was one of the founders in 1851 of the East Hampton Bell Company. He left in 1860 to found the company Clark and Watrous, and then in 1865 created D. W. Watrous & Co. which later became Watrous Manufacturing Co.. The company created sleigh bells, bell toys, and in it’s early days they made casket trimmings. D. W. Watrous was also the town undertaker. Watrous Mfg. Co. had been making bell toys for over forty years according to a 1918 ad. D. W. was to answer the call of the bell until one tolled for him when he died in 1918. His son John Lazarus ran the company till his bell tolled in 1923 and the company stock was then sold to Gong Bell Manufacturing Co.. The Watrous Mfg Co. was dissolved in 1927. By the early 1900s Watrous Mfg. Co. had developed a distinct bell toy style. While some of the toys had fancy iron frames, more often their toys utilized nickel plated or coppered steel frames and nickel plated steel wheels. Flattened cast iron figures often move to strike a bell or chime. The mechanisms were frequently exposed. Parts were often lacquered over the nickel plating which gave the paint an iridescent quality.. As a reflection of the times there are Soldiers and Sailors, Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, Admiral Peary and the Polar Bear, and Dancing Coons. Popular toys included many versions with horses, clowns or bears. Comic Character toys included Buster Brown and Tige, Little Nemo and Flip , Charlie Chaplin, Mammy and Foxy Grandpa. In addition to the bell toys, chime toys or gong toys, the company also produced an erector set called Modelit around 1916, and a mechanical tin and wood toy called Flying Areoplanes. The Watrous Mfg. Co. was closely associated with several of the many East Hampton bell companies. The Barton family is credited with starting the bell industry in East Hampton. An 1880 illustrated map of East Hampton shows Barton and Watrous Bell Mfrs. in one building as well as D. W. Watrous, Mfrs. of Bells and Undertakers Supplies, Undertaking in another. For a while Watrous Mfg. Co. and N. N. Hill Brass Co. combined their catalogs into one while they were both branches of the short lived, 1903 -1907, toy manufacturers consortium, National Novelty Corporation. Grace Bevin and the Bevin Bros. Mfg. Co. and were major stock holders of the Watrous Mfg. Co. from their Incorporation in 1913 to 1923. The Gong Bell Mfg. Co. was just upstream from the Watrous Mfg. Co.. In 1912 Clifford M. Watrous, surprisingly unrelated to the Watrous family of Watrous Mfg. Co., became general manager at Gong Bell Mfg. Co.. In 1921 he patented the popular Playphone 600. He would later become President of Gong Bell Mfg. Co. East Hampton was and still is a small town. There were many ties by marriage to other East Hampton families, many involved in the bell industry. The bell and bell toy industry faded leaving Bevin Bell Co. as the sole survivor in East Hampton today. The water from Lake Pocotopaug still flows over the East Hampton Falls near Watrous Street. The site where Watrous Mfg was located at 103 Main Street in East Hampton is now a parking lot for the town library. The names, a few scraps of paper, and some toys that have somehow survived the normal ravages inflicted by children and time are all that remains of the Watrous Manufacturing Company’s sixty seven year history. Life is good, La vie est belle...

Invite positive energy into your home with this beautiful elephant, made of Tahitian mother of pearl and bone. Elephants are considered a symb...

Little lamp in the shape of an insect with mother of pearl shell and iron legs, Italian piece of the 1970s. The electric wiring is new.

Make a statement in your entry with this pair of antique, marble elephant sculptures. Crafted in England circa 1860, the hand carved mammals ...

This whimsical yet very useful silver plated standing frog holds a large polished mother-of-pearl clam shell and is mounted on a square moulded base. The piece measures 6 ¼ in – 15.8...

Truly beautiful 1950s French artist's 'escargot' light sculpture made of cast bronze with a stunning handworked mother of pearl shell serving as the light diffuser. The snail form has become somewhat of an icon in post war modern art from Matisse's 1953 abstracted 'escargot' collage through to Savador Dali...

A brass scorpion with inset mother-of-pearl. The body is a lid that opens up, circa 1960s.