A Large Natural History Specimen of a Giant Clam Shell c.1900

Object Description

The large preserved giant clam shell (Tridacna gigas), with four vertical folds, surviving in beautifully weathered condition from the south pacific or Indian oceans and from the zeniths of the nineteenth century.

Object History

Same family for decades.

Object Literature

These bottom-dwelling behemoths are the largest mollusks on Earth, capable of reaching 4 feet (1.2 meters) in length and weighing more than 500 pounds (227 kg). They live in the warm waters of the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. Giant clams achieve their enormous proportions by consuming the sugars and proteins produced by the billions of algae that live in their tissues.

Giant clams have a wildly undeserved reputation as man-eaters, with South Pacific legends describing clams that lie in wait to trap unsuspecting swimmers or swallow them whole. No account of a human death by giant clam has ever been substantiated, and scientists say its adductor muscles, used to close the shell, move far too slowly to take a swimmer by surprise. Even the largest specimen would simply retreat into its shell rather than attempt to sample human prey.

The giant clam gets only one chance to find a nice home and once it fastens itself to a spot on a reef, there it sits for the rest of its life. In its afterlife it is still good for ice, goldfish, soap, bon-bons, that sort of thing.

Object Condition

The specimen is in super condition with very few chipped losses. She sits both ways, as it were, stably and doesn’t need any kind of support. This example had been in the same family for decades and was used outside as a water feature so there is patination as such from this use.

Object Details