About this product

Blonde Turtle Shell Late 19th Century.

These turtle shells were South American river turtles and would be captured to take on board the merchant ships of the 19th century. The turtles were then boiled (to make turtle soup) and eaten, with one turtle capable of feeding reputedly up to 100 sailors. However, the left overs were not simply thrown overboard. Often a sailor would take the shell and polish it by hand for hours on end giving it a gloss-white finish and sell it as an item of curiosity for a few shillings once docked at home which explains why most of them tend to turn up for sale in the northwest of England in the proximity of Liverpool, one of the busiest trading ports of the world at the time.