The technique of inlaying mother-of-pearl dates back more than 800 years, when it was used to

THEN: Doris Duke’s secretary desk from Goa, c. 1800, mother-of-pearl inlay.	NOW: Throne-back chair, Syria, mother-of-pearl inlay.

glorify religious interiors and decorate furniture and objects for royalty and the wealthy. Today, high-end consumers who prize rarity and beauty have spurred a renewed interest in mother-of-pearl furniture, both traditional and contemporary—and it’s not hard to see why. Intricate designs executed in this precious substance, with the opalescent color of the shells glistening against a background of shiny black lacquer, add value and importance to any piece. “Mother-of-pearl is a precious natural material and has such a beautiful effect that no matter how you look at it there is an iridescent quality that is very appealing,” says Gerardus Widdershoven, president of Maison Gerard in New York.

When it came to creating a glamorous and luxurious ambiance, the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke was second to none; she chose an entire bedroom set and accessories in glowing mother-of-pearl for Rough Point, her summer “cottage” in Newport, Rhode Island. According to the Newport Restoration Foundation’s curatorial staff, the set was made in Vienna around 1820, with the exception of the impressive secretary desk, which was made in Goa, a Portuguese colony in western India, circa 1800. Duke bought the mother-of-pearl furniture suite at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York in April 1966 for $18,500.

Duke may have been ahead of her time in her taste for exotic decor, but consumers today can acquire fine examples of mother-of-pearl furniture and objets d’art mainly through antiques dealers and occasionally through auction houses. Contemporary pieces made in Syria and India have become available at upscale retail stores.

According to Julthusana Byachrananda in Thai Mother-of-Pearl Inlay (Thames & Hudson, 2007), the fine quality of these intricate designs is due to a combination of creative ideas and highly skilled craftsmen working in tandem with artists. Each piece took a great deal of time to produce. These factors, plus rarity, account for the collectible value of mother-of-pearl masterpieces and the exorbitant prices they garner in today’s market.

In addition, the rarity of the material itself means high prices for restoration, as mother-of-pearl is fragile and repair requires specialized skills. “Obtaining the precious shell material today is very difficult,” says Eli Rios, founder of ECR Conservation and Restoration Inc. in New York. “Not only is the material costly to come by, but the workmanship is expensive, yet customers are willing to pay the price to restore a work of incredible beauty.” Rios, who teaches restoration techniques in New York University’s appraisal study program, is currently working on restoring and replacing missing mother-of-pearl in an octagonal Moroccan side table inlaid in a triangular design and a teak chest with very large mother-of-pearl inserts. “The material is so rare that resources are limited. In addition to importing mother-of-pearl from Jamaica, I also salvage it from the rare piece of not-in-mint-condition furniture I find in flea markets.”

“People are attracted to mother-of-pearl for its rich heritage, its link to the past and its irreplaceable quality,” says Alice Papp, co-director of Florian Papp in New York. Tables produced by lacquer artists in Japan specifically for the export market in Paris and London were much in demand and appreciated for their “exotic” decorative qualities. On the floor of Papp’s shop is a spectacular English Victorian papier-mâché example, circa 1845, with a richly decorated trestle base table embellished with gilding and polychrome inlaid mother-of-pearl. The rectangular top is inlaid with flowers and naturalistic shapes ($27,000).

“It’s rare to find the Old World handiwork of mother-of-pearl, never to be executed again,” explains David Einalhory, owner of D&D Antiques Gallery in New York. He notes that chinoiserie items are in particular demand. D&D recently sold a mint-condition late 19th-century tripod English tilt-top table with superb mother-of-pearl inlay on black lacquer depicting a teahouse scene for $16,900.

A rare George II mahogany tripod tea table set on ball-and-claw feet attributed to Frederick Hintz, circa 1745, is for sale at M.S. Rau Antiques in New Orleans for $64,500. Considered to be the height of English furniture making, it features brass marquetry and mother-of-pearl in a tilting scalloped top delicately inlaid with budding flowers and splayed leaves. And Maison Gerard has a fine rosewood two-door cabinet with exotic mother-of-pearl and ebony inlays, circa 1940, by French cabinetmaker Jules Leleu (1883–1961) that demonstrates his collaboration with the inlay artist André Messager ($65,000).