On the supply of Shells, Horns, Bones, and Woods, used in the Cutlery Trades of Sheffield

The employment of ivory in cutlery having been treated of by others, the first substance used in hafting cutlery to which I should ask your attention is mother-of-pearl. This beautiful and durable material is largely imported into England from the coasts of the South American, Indian, and Chinese seas; but the only nacreous shells possessing sufficient thickness for Sheffield purposes, are received from Manilla and Singapore. The smaller shells from Bombay, Panama, and other ports are used chiefly in Birmingham, and are there worked into buttons, or used for inlaying purposes. The Manilla and Singapore fisheries produce annually from 300 to 400 tons of shell, most of which is sent to this country. The consumption here, however, I should estimate at somewhat below 100 tons per annum—the rest of the import is used for the best Birmingham goods or exported to the continent. The present value is now about £130 to £140 per ton; but the supply and demand is so variable that Manilla and Singapore shell has been sold within the last fifty years at almost all rates between £60 and £600 per ton. These shells are in Sheffield cut into scales and handles by circular saws, and the pieces have afterwards to be ground down on stones singly and by hand, to a level surface and a required thickness. This tedious process aids in making this a costly covering for cutlery, and as the substance is both hard and brittle, when the handles or scales are fluted ...