Rounded Square Tortoise Shell Earrings

Rounded square discs of tortoise shell make up these earrings, the warm translucent material framed in silver, a design also produced as cuff links.

Tortoiseshell was prized in the workshop for its color and its contrast with silver, a pairing Morrill notes Spratling worked for its textural richness (Morrill, p. 73). The simple rounded-square format lets the material carry the piece.

That the same design served as both earrings and cuff links reflects the workshop's habit of carrying a successful form across object types.