Describing the birthday festival of Kublai Khan (circa 1275 A.D.), Marco Polo says: “The Great Kaan dresses in the best of his robes, all wrought with beaten gold; and full 12,000 Barons and Knights on that day came forth dressed in robes of the same colour, and precisely like those of the Great Kaan, except that they are not so costly; but still they are all of the same colour as his, and are also of silk and gold. Every man so clothed has a girdle of gold; and this as well as the dress is given him by the Sovereign. And I will aver that there are some of these suits decked with so many pearls and precious stones that a single suit shall be worth full 10,000 golden bezants [about $25,000].”[[438]]

In the Kan period, in China, the dead bodies of the emperors were embalmed and wrapped in a garment ornamented with pearls. They were then inclosed in a case of jade.[[439]]

Speaking of the jewels of the King of Maabar, or what is now known as the Coromandel Coast, Marco Polo tells us: “It is a fact that the king goes as bare as the rest, only round his loins he has a piece of fine cloth and round his neck he has a necklace entirely of precious stones,—rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and the like, insomuch that this collar is of great value. He wears also hanging in front of his chest from the neck downwards, a fine silk thread strung with 104 large pearls and rubies of great price. The reason why he wears this cord with the 104 great pearls is (according to what they tell) that every day, morning and evening, he has to say 104 prayers to his idols. Such is their religion and custom; and thus did all the kings his ancestors before him, and they bequeathed the string of pearls to him that he should do the like.”[[440]]

A favorite East Indian amulet is known as the “Nao-ratna” or “Nao-ratan,” and consists of “nine gems”: in former times the pearl, ruby, topaz, diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, coral, sapphire, and a stone, not identified, called the gomeda. At the present time these stones are generally the coral, topaz, sapphire, ruby, flat diamond, cut diamond, emerald, hyacinth, and carbuncle. This talisman may suggest the Urim and Thummin or sacred oracle of the Jews, which was said to have been taken from Jerusalem in 615 A.D. by Khusrau II, the Sassanian Persian king.

The East Indian custom for persons of quality was to wear a pearl between two colored stones in each ear, that is, either between two rubies or two emeralds; and Tavernier noted, about 1670, that there was no person of any consideration in those regions who did not wear, in each ear, a pearl set between two colored stones. Another favorite ornament for women in India is a girdle elegantly embroidered, bearing a large pendant pearl in front, where it is fastened.[[441]]

A necklace of twenty-seven pearls bears in India the name of nakshatra mālā, nakshatras (originally “stars”) being the name of the twenty-seven divisions of the Hindu zodiac.[[442]]

In the Indian jewels often a small spot of enamel is fastened or melted on to a gold wire, and then one or several pearls are hung upon it; or beads of some gems, as sapphire, ruby, emerald, or even glass, may be added or alternated with pearls. Then the enamel stop-piece is turned down and the other end of the gold wire is twisted on to the setting, loosely, in such a manner as to swing freely. It is the effect of these dozens or even hundreds of swinging drops that add such grace and elegance to East Indian jewelry.

EAST INDIAN NECKLACE OF PEARLS, TABLE DIAMONDS, GLASS BEADS, GOLD AND ENAMEL
Property of an American lady

In China, such precious stones as the ruby, sapphire—both blue and yellow—the emerald, and the pink tourmaline, are not facetted, as with us, but are generally polished in conformity to the shape of the bead or other ornament, and never have a lathe-turned or cut appearance; they are either set in cabochon or as beads, rounded, oval, or elongated. All these forms, and the colors used by the Chinese, lend themselves well to combinations with pearls; and hence pearls are often found in Chinese jewelry, especially in those ornaments which are flexible and graceful, in which the pearls and gems are strung on wire and allowed to swing freely with a gentle tinkle when the wearer moves. This is not unlike the setting of such gems in ancient Roman times. An admirable example is shown and described in Bushell’s “Chinese Art” (Vol. II, plate 108, page 90). In this head-dress of a Manchu lady, there are combined with the pearls, jadeite, amethyst, amber, and coral, on a gilt silver openwork, with blue kingfisher feathers. This great cap of state is an admirable example of pure Chinese design and workmanship. The pendant strings of pearls are occasionally relieved by a bit of carved jade, carnelian or coral, especially the latter. Another example, the “cap of state” has silver-gilt openwork and immortelles (Taoist symbols), and is much enhanced in beauty by a decoration or inlay of plates of the beautiful blue feathers of the kingfisher, which are used so extensively and effectively in Chinese jewelry. The pearls are scattered at intervals over the cap, and ten strings of them hang from the sides of it. This is believed to be of Manchu origin by Dr. Stephen W. Bushell, the great Chinese scholar, to whom we are indebted for the use of the illustration. We are also told that young ladies in China wear a sort of crown constructed of pasteboard, covered with silk. This is adorned with pearls, diamonds, and other jewels.[[443]]