Mother of pearl in the context of Seashell

Maki-e (蒔絵, literally: sprinkled picture (or design)) is a Japanese lacquer decoration technique in which pictures, patterns, and letters are drawn with lacquer on the surface of lacquerware, and then metal powder such as gold or silver is sprinkled and fixed on the surface of the lacquerware. The origin of the term maki-e is a compound word of maki meaning "sprinkling" and e meaning "picture" or "design". The term can also be used to refer to lacquerware made with this decorative technique. The term maki-e first appeared in the Heian period.

This technique is the most used technique in Japanese lacquer decoration. The maki-e is often combined with other techniques such as raden (螺鈿) in which a nacreous layer of mollusk shell lining is embedded or pasted in lacquer, zōgan (象嵌) in which metal or ivory is embedded in lacquer, and chinkin (沈金) in which gold leaf or gold powder is embedded in a hollow where lacquer has been shaved.

A decorative box is a form of packaging that is generally more than just functional, but also intended to be decorative and artistic. Many such boxes are used for promotional packaging, both commercially and privately. Historical objects are usually called caskets if larger than a few inches in more than one dimension, with only smaller ones called boxes.

Pearling in Western Australia includes the harvesting and farming of both pearls and pearl shells (for mother of pearl) along the north-western coast of Western Australia.

The practice of collecting pearl shells existed well before British settlement. After settlement, Aboriginal people were used as slave labour in the emerging commercial industry, a practice known as blackbirding. After 1886, with the rise of 'hard hat' diving, Asian divers from coastal and island regions became most common, leading to the pearling industry being the sole exception to the White Australia Policy of 1901.

Opera glasses, also known as theater binoculars or Galilean binoculars, are compact, low-power optical magnification devices, usually used at performance events, whose name is derived from traditional use of binoculars at opera performances. Magnification power below 5× is usually desired in these circumstances in order to minimize image shake and maintain a large enough field of view. A magnification of 3× is normally recommended. The design of many modern opera glasses of the ornamental variety is based on the popular lorgnettes of the 19th century. Often, modern theatre binoculars are equipped with an LED flashlight, which makes it easier to find a place in the dark.

In addition to the more stereotypical binocular type, folding opera glasses were another common design. They were made mostly of metal and glass, with a leatherette cover for grip and color. Although folding glasses have existed in one form or another since the 1890s, they were perhaps most popular in the mid-20th century and many from this era are marked "Made in Japan" or, less commonly, "Made in Occupied Japan". The design can still be purchased new, although the most common contemporary designs are now almost entirely plastic.

A polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) is a cloud that forms in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes from 15,000 to 25,000 m (49,000 to 82,000 ft). They are best observed during civil twilight, when the Sun is between 1° and 6° below the horizon, as well as in winter and in more northerly latitudes. One main type of PSC is composed of mostly supercooled droplets of water and nitric acid and is implicated in the formation of ozone holes. The other main type consists only of ice crystals, which are not harmful. This type of PSC is also called nacreous (/ˈneɪkriəs/; from nacre, or mother of pearl), due to its iridescence.

Intarsia is a form of wood inlaying that is similar to marquetry. The practice dates from before the seventh century AD. The technique inserts sections of wood (at times with contrasting ivory or bone, or mother-of-pearl) within the solid wood matrix of floors and walls or of tabletops and other furniture; by contrast marquetry assembles a pattern out of veneers glued upon the carcass.

Certosina is a variant also using pieces of ivory, bone or mother of pearl. Intarsia is mostly used in Italian, or at least European work. Similar techniques are found over much of Asia and the Middle East.