Fibre beards, glued together, 19th c.

Fibre beards, glued together, 19th century, I-Cagliari, Sardinia. UK-Edinburgh, National Museums of Scotland, NMSZ 1913.001.13 (MS Inventory 28)

Fibre beards, glued together, 19th century, I-Cagliari, Sardinia. UK-Edinburgh, National Museums of Scotland, NMSZ 1913.001.13 (MS Inventory 28).

Label: ”Pinna squamosa, byssus, Ex display 2008, Gallery: 1.12, Case no: 11, w.c left, NMSZ 1913.006.13”

 At the 1862 World Fair in London, sea silk products from Italy were shown for the first time. The Royal Italian Commission, which had brought these objects to London, offered them to the then Industrial Museum of Scotland, now the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. These fibre beards were among them.