Really interesting, and what a cool niche to work in (although I also think it would be ... frustrating).
This part didn't parse for me:
[...] racks of wooden-handled brushes with bristles made from rat’s tail fur and the hair of pearl divers.
The hair of what? Can "pearl diver" mean something else than a human diver, hunting for pearls? Do they really donate their hair to make brushes? Why them? What ... ?
This part didn't parse for me:
[...] racks of wooden-handled brushes with bristles made from rat’s tail fur and the hair of pearl divers.
The hair of what? Can "pearl diver" mean something else than a human diver, hunting for pearls? Do they really donate their hair to make brushes? Why them? What ... ?