Lustre : Pearling & Australia is a touring exhibition from Western Australia.
Lustre has been to Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville, Canberra and South Australia and several museums in Western Australia, prior to 2020.
Lustre delves into the gritty human story of pearling in Broome, weaving together intersecting strands of Aboriginal, Asian and European histories to reveal insights into one of Australia's oldest industries.
The exhibition may no longer be on display anywhere, but the Western Australian Museum now has a book available, 'Lustre: Pearling and Australia'.
Here's a link: - https://qagoma.store/products/lustre-pearling-and-australia?srsltid=AfmBOorUaSawCbZPh9c7iAiK1r5m0Z3kVdiO1cI78chW53d7dxMzwZxJ
You will discover the intriguing stories behind northern Australia's unique pearling tradition, immerse yourself in the qualities of the shell itself, its evolution and habitat, and the people who have collected and harvested these treasures from Saltwater Country.
Among the exhibits is a panel of mother of pearl buttons with examples from the 18th to the 20th Century, a drilled shell and accompanying buttons, and a Pearly King costume on loan from a museum in the U.K.
Another, much older, book that may be of interest is Forty Fathoms Deep by Ion Idriess, first published about 1937.
