Materials
Shagreen — the skin of the sea
Stingray skin with its distinctive calcite nodule surface, an historic luxury material with a strongly contemporary character.
Stingray skin with its distinctive calcite nodule surface, an historic luxury material with a strongly contemporary character.
Shagreen is stingray skin, processed and dyed to reveal the characteristic pattern of calcite nodules (placoid scales) that cover the animal's surface. Each skin has a unique arrangement of nodules, and no two panels are identical. The material has been used in luxury furniture and accessories since the 18th century, it appears on the furniture of Eileen Gray and Jean-Michel Frank, and retains a strongly contemporary character.
Make Bespoke Studio uses shagreen for small-scale luxury furniture applications: box and tray surfaces, cabinet door inserts, furniture top inlays and decorative panel work. The material is available in a range of dyed colours, from natural grey-white to deep green, black, pale gold and custom tints.
Shagreen is always ethically sourced from by-product stingray skins, the fish is commercially fished for food, and the material carries CITES documentation confirming its legal provenance.
Shagreen is reserved for luxury surface applications where its distinctive nodule pattern and tactile quality become the focal point. Each piece is unique, the natural variation of every skin ensures no two commissions are identical.
Genuine stingray skin, ethically sourced, available in 21 dyed colours. Each skin has a unique nodule arrangement, no two panels are identical.
A high-quality embossed leather alternative capturing the characteristic nodule pattern of real shagreen. Available in 11 tonal colourways.
