This kitschy ’70s fad is having a comeback (with a hefty price tag)

Shell art isn’t a new genre; it’s been with us for centuries. The Victorians often framed their family photos with shells. The peacock, with its picturesque plumage, is frequently used as the subject for shell art, whether from the 19th century or the 1950s, when shell art gained momentum.

The medium also came to the fore in the 1970s when everything was embellished with shells, from photo frames and mirrors to trinket boxes and even furniture. And if you think these pieces should just be relegated to the ’70s beach shack, then take another look, as shell art finds its own place in history decades later.

A recently completed beach house featuring an extensive collection of shell art.Credit: Trevor Mein

Although shell art can often be spotted in vintage stores, there’s no shortage of it on websites such as Etsy. I found some alluring pieces, such as a Victorian black-and-white photo of a mother and her child, ornately framed with seashells – as richly detailed as Victorian lace.

Priced at $470, its workmanship is as impressive as that of the finest silver frames. Those searching may also be tempted by Chinese shell-art birds exquisitely depicted sitting in a blossom tree and priced at $373.

And what could be more unique – highlighted by Etsy as a “rare find” – than a domed, glass-enclosed scene from 1953 that depicts a hand-painted lagoon, complete with a palm tree and thoughtfully adorned with soft, pale, pink shells resembling flower petals.

With its pine-needle frame, the complete package is surely a steal at only $250. And a French inkwell with boats hand-painted on shells that create the stage is only $156 – a writer’s dream!

A recently completed beach house for a client of design and architecture studio Multiplicity featured an extensive collection of shell art. As well as providing many built-in shelves to display the art, the practice used the owner’s collection of shells to adorn a vanity unit in the en suite to the main bedroom – like a barnacle attached to the bottom of a boat.

Interior designer Sioux Clark, a director at Multiplicity, even gifted a piece of shell art to the project – an oversized shell lamp filled with dyed coral that once took pride of place on her parents’ television set.

Clark sees the importance of shell art traced through Australia’s Indigenous people, as well as those from the Torres Strait Islands, creating a tradition of necklaces and other body adornments that capture their coastal surrounds.

Photo frames adorned with shells were a mainstay of the 70s.Credit: Trevor Mein

“There’s definitely an affinity with shells and the memories of going down to the beach on family holidays,” says Clark, who sees some of the unique pieces of shell art selling for several hundreds of dollars.

She also likens the use of shells to the arts and crafts movement, where there was a strong sense of making things by hand. And in terms of whether shell art is seen as “kitsch” or “collectable”, Clark understands the importance of humour in the Australian psyche.

“It could be a kookaburra on a vase or my parents’ lamp, but there needs to be a sense of levity or balance in design that offers both humour and meaning, and what more appropriate than in a beach house?” she says.

Gaby (who requested that her surname not be mentioned) is Multiplicity’s client and owner of the beach house on the Bellarine Peninsula. She was initially drawn to shells as a child, collecting Victorian calling-card cases, often made of tortoiseshell and edged in silver or embossed with mother-of-pearl.

Collecting shells, as well as shell art, continued into her adult life. “I purchased three art shell pictures from Leonard Joel’s Sydney auction from the Trevor Kennedy Collection,” says Gaby, who recalls paying only $300 plus buyer’s premium for all three works of art.

Another bought from the same auction featured a domed seascape encrusted with seashells, and cost $500 plus buyer’s premium. Gaby also refers to contemporary artists such as Bern Emmerichs, whose work is contained within frames made from seashells and priced in the thousands.

“There’s that sense of the hand and the enormous creativity in placing each shell,” says Gaby.

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