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unusual facts about tortoiseshell material



Bachi

Similarly to guitar picks, bachi were traditionally made of tortoise shell (鼈甲, bekkou) or ivory (象牙, zouge), but these materials are rare and expensive (and illegal to trade in some territories, due to protection of endangered species), therefore making bachi in these materials highly expensive and impractical.

Virginals

Keytops could be of plain boxwood, or lavishly decorated (as was often the case in northern Italy) with ivory, ebony, mother-of-pearl or tortoiseshell among other materials.


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