This is a sailor’s-valentine-style shellwork box, built on a repurposed Don Tomás cigar box.
Every exterior surface — top, sides, and edges — is densely encrusted with small shells: nerite/moon snails, olive shells, cowries, and other small mollusks in natural browns, creams, and grays
A center floral motif on the lid made from mussel shells
Mother-of-pearl abalone or clam shell pieces carved/arranged into flower shapes as focal accents on the front and back panels
Rows of small spiral shells lined up like beading along the seams and edges
The original cigar box hinge and interior remain intact and functional
This is a classic piece of shellwork folk craft — handmade decorative boxes built up shell-by-shell over a found container, in the long tradition of “sailor’s valentines” (though those were traditionally octagonal and glass-fronted; this is a freeform descendant of that craft using a cigar box as the armature).
