Molluscan shells are diverse, beautiful, and mechanically robust. They are commonly used during ancient human life as money, decorative objects, or functional tools. To reconstruct their origin is important for us to understand their production process as well as underlying cultural contexts. Luodian, a unique shell art in China since 3000 years ago, has served as a cultural carrier between China and Europe. This study combined proteomics and microstructural analysis to identify the raw materials origin of three Luodian samples from Qing Dynasty with species resolution and potential age levels. Shell proteomics and multiple sequence alignment have identified key shell matrix proteins (N66 and Pif) to be of Pinctada maxima, a pearl oyster distributed in the indo-pacific regions. After establishing that the thickness of nacreous tablets in the shell is inversely proportional to the shell size for the first time, we proposed to infer the age of raw materials in different Luodian samples, which are tailored to different purposes. This study provides a framework and foundation for identifying the origin of various shell arts especially made from pearl oysters.