eBAY Find – June 2010 USA - maireener shells

SELLER'S NOTES:

• #2_ Vintage Tasmanian Maireener Shell Lei Necklace Iridescent Pink
  This is a beautiful vintage Tasmanian Maireener Shell lei necklace. The shells are strung on thread. I do not know if these shells were dyed [almost certainly they have been] or not, but they awesome shades of iridescent pink and blue green colors ... It is in excellent condition and I do not see any broken or missing shells. It measures approximately 34 inches long from end to end ... SOLD FOR: US $152.49 = Approx.AU $175.32

• #3 _Vintage Tasmanian Maireener Shell Lei Necklace Iridescent White
  
  This is a beautiful vintage Tasmanian Maireener Shell lei necklace. The shells are strung on thread. I do not know if these shells were dyed or not, [unlikely to have been]but they awesome shades of iridescent blue green colors ... It is in excellent condition and I do not see any broken or missing shells. It measures approximately 34 inches long from end to end.... SOLD FOR: US $149.99 Approx. AU $172.44

• #1 _ SOLD FOR: US $247.50 Approx. AU $284.55

The most interesting thing about this eBAY sale is that these maireener shell necklaces were described as they were ... "Vintage Tasmanian Maireener Shell Lei Necklace " ... They seem to have come to the seller's possession via West Coast USA sources and it is possible that one way or another the Hawaiian links have been subliminally made.

eBAY Find – May 2010 UK–maireener

CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE

There seems to be no evidence of dyes being used on this necklace to enhance the colour and/or iridescence of the shells. The fact that it has a clasp suggests that it is the product of commercial production or more likely to be so than it may be Aboriginal production. However, there are many ways it may have gained this clasp that does not preclude it from being of Aboriginal origin in Tasmania.

Circumstantially, the fact that this necklace turns up in the UK, and that it is short, and that it's clasp is of the kind that it is, all this in turn tends to suggest that it was commercially produced and exported to the UK sometime between the turn of the turn of the 20th C and WW2. An examination of the string may well enable a more specific dating.

Whatever, the necklace is an exemplar of the ambiguous maireener shell necklaces turning up on the international antique market.

Call For Shell Identification – maireeners??

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The image above was sent in to the network in search of identification "of a shell necklace I have acquired- it is very long and worn lariat style ... there is a close up of the shells - the necklace is made up of hundreds of these shells ... I have been told they are [Tasmanian] maireener shells ... would you be able to confirm this at all ... SD_P1020075 "

Clearly the owner here has been mislead and these shells ARE NOT remotely like any of the shells now being marketed on eBAY or anywhere else as 'Tasmanian maireener shells'. However it has been noted that 'maireener' is being used to describe a range of small iridescent shells – not always from Tasmania if at all – used to make necklaces. The shells that do qualify for being called maireener shells are identified here – click here. Given that these shells are not Tasmanian – and even unlikely to be Australian – we are not in a position to say what they actually are but there are network members who may be able to.

It is most important to remember that maireener shells are only iridescent if they have been cleaned – had their outer coating removed either chemically or physically.

If the owner bought these shells because they were maireeners shells, or even Tasmanian maireener shell, or worse still Tasmanian maireener shells in a Tasmanian Aboriginal made necklace they have been mislead. The word 'maireener' has become "the key word" for the necklaces that are recorded on this site.

It has been noted that 'maireener' has often been misused as a key word by eBAY sellers!

Well here is the information requested: "These are a prosobranch (gilled) landsnail. The Family is Helicinidae. Exact species is difficult to pin – they look alot alike – but likely genera are Helicina, Sulfurina, or Orobophana. There are many species in the West Indies and tropical Asia, including islands in the Pacific ... one species has been identified in Texas, USA. On eBay, sometimes they are listed as 'pikake' shells, which possibly is not accurate, either. Several "Hawaiian" necklaces contain these shells. Sometimes they are coated with a pearlized-looking paint to make them appear iridescent, but they do not contain any mother of pearl and are therefore incapable of being truly iridescent. They are kind of cute and string nicely." ... the knowledge bank grows.