I blame Elle Decor for my tortoise shell obsession. As I noted back in May, the magazine has been featuring rooms sporting vintage shells for the past few years — they inevitably grace super-chic spaces, a rare and exotic alternative to the antler craze.
When Mike and I set out for quaint St. Jacobs, Ontario, earlier this year, we were on the hunt for a tortoise shell that a Toronto dealer had mentioned he had for sale at the Spring Street Antiques Market. We were a bit disappointed with the shell in question and so the quest continued.
Then last week, on a routine stop at Toronto’s Queen’s Key Antiques (1086 1/2 Queen Street West), I hit the proverbial jackpot. There on the wall was the biggest shell I’ve ever seen for a price I could actually afford. Now, don’t get me wrong, $250 for what is essentially wall tchotchke, is nothing to sniff at but this shell would probably cost $1,250 if I’d found it at Toronto’s Kantelberg Antiques or L’Atelier.
My shell, former home to a very mature hawksbill sea turtle, is two feet long and two feet across; the shot of me holding it is to give you a sense of scale (I’m 6’1″). When I plucked it from the wall in the shop the shell was dry and dusty but I renewed it with some Earth Friendly furniture polish and now it’s a thing of beauty.
Top pics from Elle Decor: left, photo by William Waldron (March 2009) and right, photo by Pieter Estersohn of designer Nate Berkus’s Chicago apartment (September 2008).
October 10th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Wow- what a steal! I agree they are more interesting and less trendy feeling than antlers. I have been trying unsuccessfully for some time to retrieve an enormous snapper turtle shell from a local pond with the hopes of using it as you have. I’ll keep trying! Love your look.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
OMG..that is stunning.
Great find.
Darn you..now I have to have one too.
I just hope the turtle died of natural causes, and was not killed for the gorgeous shell.