shellwork

[shel-wurk]

noun

1. decorative work composed of seashells.

   an elaborate picture frame decorated with shellwork.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shellwork¹

First recorded in 1605–15; shell + work

Example Sentences

Art was not somthing that could be depended on, though all right for a hobby, like shellwork or wood carving.

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In two private court-yards we were shown gaily decorated fountains, in alcoves or niches, curiously and elaborately ornamented with mosaic and shellwork, the shells being in perfect preservation.

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Stripped of its overgrowth of large-figured wallpaper, overstuffed chairs, marble-topped tables, potted plants, shellwork, beadwork, fringed cushions, petitpoint mottoes, bric-a-brac, fretwork brackets and tiered whatnots, "the Victorian parlor with its parquet floor, high ceiling, tall windows and ample fireplace emerges as a very handsome room."

Read more on Time Magazine Archive

These remarkable creations are so utterly tasteless, with masses of bristling shellwork and crude, ungainly statues, that we wondered how anything so inartistic could find a home upon Italian soil.

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Bella, Lake Maggiore We tried to forget the monstrosities of the château garden and to remember only the beauty and the rich luxuriance of its trees and the many flowering vines that clambered all over the shellwork terraces, as if striving to conceal their rococo ugliness.

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