Their small bulk made them easy to conceal and to transport, and hence they were well adapted for such use. How long this condition will last, is perhaps dependent only upon the introduction of interest-paying investments, and of the new forms of Western civilization that involve greater expenses and require means of income in excess of the older and simpler conditions.
The wealth of jewels possessed by Oriental monarchs, notables, and dealers, has been the theme of story and tradition, time out of mind. We of the West have been disposed to regard these tales as largely exaggerated, and to some extent they may be; yet any one who has witnessed an important social function or state occasion where East Indian rajahs and nabobs are present, knows that the profusion of jewels which they wear is simply astounding to our Western eyes. These objects represent, moreover, the gatherings of generations and centuries; they are heirlooms and ancestral treasures, priceless to their owners as the pride of their houses; handed down from fathers to sons in long succession; and they have also the investment feature already noted, in that whenever necessity arises they can be turned into available funds.
The manner of keeping and of selling such objects is also different from ours. If it be a question of buying gems from an Eastern owner, the best are never shown first, but on the contrary, the most inferior. The purchaser must either be content with these, or else must prove clearly that he is a substantial buyer or evince a knowledge and appreciation that mark him as a judge of such objects. The order in which they are produced is, first the poorest, then successively, poor, medium, fair, good, fine, and at last the rare and wonderful prizes.
In visiting an Oriental dignitary, his jewel-treasures are not all shown at once, as at an American reception or an Indian durbar, or even as a collector or connoisseur among us exhibits his cabinet, arranged for choice display. The method is far different. The visitor may be shown a few objects in the first day or hour; perhaps a few more later in the day; some on the next day or the one following, and so on; and he may remain a guest for weeks, and never see all, or the finest of the jewels belonging to his host. When they are produced, moreover, they are not in iron caskets or in gold or silver jewel-cases, covered or lined with fine leather or with silk or satin. On the contrary, they are often in old ginger jars, shabby boxes, tin cans, and all sorts of unsightly or unpromising receptacles, which, when placed between the owner and his guest, may well cause the latter to wonder. Nor is his surprise lessened as the wrappings are unfolded, one after another, perhaps a dozen old cloths, until the piece of jewelry or the splendid pearl is at last brought to view, after having been hidden from sight in its manifold wrappings for months or perhaps for years.
But this method of keeping such treasures is not in reality so strange as it appears. There are none of the provisions that we have for the responsible safe-guarding of investments or valuable objects,—no fire-proof safes, no banks, no deposit-vaults. Security is best attained by concealment in unattractive and improbable receptacles, and by dividing and distributing the treasured objects. The owner, too, must learn to know his visitor quite well before he exhibits to him all, or the best, that he possesses. Hence the oriental method, though so peculiar to us, has been the best adapted to the conditions among those peoples.
Seed-pearls and gold; Chinese ornaments of the nineteenth century
Complete set of seed-pearl jewelry in original case
New York, 1860
As an illustration of the interest taken by Oriental potentates in the collection of jewels, we quote an instance from Marco Polo, who, centuries ago, wrote the following:[[406]] “Several times every year the King of Maabar sends his proclamation through the realm that if any one who possesses a pearl or stone of great value will bring it to him, he will pay for it twice as much as it cost. Everybody is glad to do this, and thus the King gets all into his own hands, giving every man his price.”