Well said Ross!  In fact I even like a small amount of epifauna on some shells (two
for the price of one!).  Growth lines and pathologies add to the interest of a shell.
 
One of my favorite shells is a Whitecap Limpet whose entire inner and outer surface
is completely bumpy - like swiss cheese.  I'm endlessly curious about whatever might
have caused that.
We do too much to our own bodies to conform to some idea of perfection, it's a good
thing the mulluscs don't know about our judgments on them or maybe  there would be a
whole new field of mullusc psychology to deal with - Are those spines natural, or did
that insecure mollusc go to the surgeon to get spine-enhancement treatments?
 
 
Ross Mayhew wrote:
 
> I'll probably lose some business for this posting, but here goes anyway.
>  I urge anyone in a judgemental mood to read through to the very end,
> where i put things into perspective somewhat!
>
>         Shells are natural objects, and as such, they are very seldom perfect:
> a mollusc does what it must to survive - predators, waves, temperature
> and other environmental changes, diseases, epiphytic organisms (those
> that live on hoard surfaces (barnacles, jingle shells, bryozoans,
> coralline algae...), boring critters, and so on.  Even amongst
> shiny/smooth/overpriced beasties such as the cowries, true "GEM"
> specimens are quite rare (athough you would not know this by looking at
> some dealers' lists!!!).  Furthermore, most shells are fragile, and in
> the often-lengthy process of capture, cleaning, passing through
> middlemen, shipping, storing, etc., it is a miracle that ANY specimen
> comes through 100% intact!!   I like to say if you want perfection, buy
> plastic bric-a-brac : given good quality-control procedures, they are
> qute perfect, and can be turned out by the thousands in their flawless
> blandness.  Now, i am **not** saying that an absolutely perfect specimen
> with superior colors and pattern cannot be a thing of great beauty, but
> why cannot more people see the beauty that can be found in spcimens
> which are not quite so immaculate??  Why do so many collectors take one
> look at a shell with, say a lip chip or two or a growth line, and just
> throw it away or send it back, without appreciating the colors, patterns
> and form of the rest of the shell: why do so many people only look for
> irregularities, and once they find any they look no further: for them,
> any natural beauty a specimen may posess is destroyed by the smallest of
> faults!! (Do not think that i am making this up- i had a friend who
> bought a beautiful gloriamaris once, but it had a small growth mark, and
> he told me he just couldn't look at it without dwelling upon that small
> mark, so that for him, the shell was ruined.)  Personally, i feel sorry
> for someone like this, because they are unable to appreciate 99.9% of
> the beauty all around them, since they are so concerned about any little
> defect that this is all they really care about in the end.  Perfection
> is equated with beauty itself, and any beauty which occuring in a
> less-than-flawless specimen is either ignored, dicounted, or not even
> fully seen.
>
>   Personaly, i sometimes find a few deviations from absolute regularity
> to be a desirable thing - they give a specimen character, by testifying
> to the struggles its previous owner faced and overcame in life: they are
> mute reminders that the shell is REAL - it came from a rugged, demanding
> natural world, and not from a preformed, perfectly smooth and regular
> mould created by man.  So, to retire from this rant for now, i give the
> following advice: Don't be a "GemManiac" - you may be missing more
> beauty than you might think!!!  Shells are natural objects, and the very
> few which grow up absolutely "GEM", are in one sense, freaks. (of
> course, some people collect freaks, so i should not be so harsh!!!)
>
>         Now, before everyone draws the conclusion that i am a "junk merchant"
> just trying to get people to settle for sub-standard products (although
> i do not see a shell as a "product", so much as a little work of "Art by
> God" (to borrow a phrase from another dealer!!)), i must add that i try
> hard to get the highest quality i can, but i will NOT discard a shell
> which retains much of its beauty in spite of  imperfections, although i
> will most certainly price such a specimen, even if quite exeptional
> and/or unusual, **much** lower than an F++ - GEM specimen which may be
> far less attractive.  I am just rather disappointed that so many
> collectors place a far greater value on perfection than on actual
> beauty, and in the cases where the battle-scars of life actually
> enhance, character.
> --
> Ross Mayhew:    Schooner Specimen Shells:    Http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com
> "We Specialize in the Unusual"
> Phone: (902) 876-2241     Snail Mail; P.O Box 20005, RPO Spryfield,
> Halifax, N.S., Canada, B3R 2K9.
> But try to find "something for Everyone"!!