The top of this luminous Victorian spool holder is carved of mother of pearl. It has a flower design on the top surrounded by a wide engine turned border. The center is set with a turquoise cabochon. Both the top and bottom unscrew to allow a ball of thread to be slipped on. The bottom and center post are made of bone.

The condition is excellent with no chips or cracks. It measures 1 3/8" high by 1 1/4" in diameter and was once part of an English workbox. Some reels of this type are shown on p. 161 of Gay Ann Rogers' book "An Illustrated History of Needlework Tools" and the style of workbox they would be from is shown on p. 36.