It is scarcely possible to mention all the various forms in which the pearl has been worn: whether as a spray of many small pearls or a few large ones, either round, ovate, or pear-shaped for aigrets; in points on crowns, used either for ornamental or heraldic purposes; for the decoration of the orbs, scepters, and crowns of kings and emperors; for forming an edging on bonnets, caps, fillets, or diadems; in pendant form, usually consisting of one, although sometimes of three or four pendants in rows and lines to ornament the side of the face; or one, two, three, or a bunch together to adorn the ear; as a single pearl on a wire or a group of them, as worn in the nose of the East Indian beauty; as a single, two, three, or many-rowed necklace to grace the lady, the queen, and the empress; or else in six, ten, to twenty or more rows with a tiny gold jeweled bar, or a large diamond center, in the form of collars; as a long chain from four to ten feet long to hang from the neck to the waist, or else to be worn once, twice, or thrice around the neck, hanging down and then encircling the waist in the form of a sautoir; either as a single drop, consisting of an ovate or pear-shaped pearl or a number of them together in the form of a pendant combined with diamonds; as a single pearl surrounded with pearls or diamonds for buttons to adorn my lady’s crown; in rows, or combined with jewels and enamel, in the form of a bow-knot with long bunches of pearls, for shoulder bars; either as one pearl alone or alternating with gold wire, with jewels, or with many pearls, in endless forms, as bracelets; either as a single row, two rows or alternate rows in infinite variety on bodices, as worn in the past more than at the present; in a single row on ornamenting metal, enamel, or jewelwork in the form of girdles; in five hundred forms for rings; as an embroidery or in rows pendant on slippers; and, finally, as a stole. These are only a few of the uses to which a lady can put pearls.
By men, pearls are worn to adorn the shirt, to wear in the scarf, as link buttons, as waistcoat buttons, or as a fob. The pearls used in this way are sometimes quite as expensive as any of those worn by the ladies.
Ecclesiastics, for more than two thousand years, have appreciated the richness of bepearling. In Russia we find pearls decorating crosses, missal covers, vestments, bindings on books, chalices and crook-tops; they are employed as borders to ikon frames, or for the decoration about the Madonna and Child. In Persia we find pearl-embroidered rugs, pillows, and bolsters. Half-pearls are used in quaint decorations for watches, snuff-boxes, miniatures, and portrait frames. Even saddles and horse-trappings in the East do not escape the charm and beauty of the pearl. Even the English coronation spoon is known for the pearls which ornament it.
Of the many forms of earrings that have come down to us, none is simpler or daintier than a single pearl worn as an ear-screw, or partly or entirely strung on a thin gold wire. Another dainty style is three pearls, worn one below the other as in ancient Rome, known as a triclum; or the round pearl with a pear-shaped pendant or bunches of pearls known as crotalia, also worn in ancient times.
A pearl necklace is usually clasped either by a round or ovate pearl, drilled so that the catch and snap are contained within the pearl itself, or else by a pearl surrounded by diamonds, rubies, or other gems. Such a clasp frequently serves to bind from two to fifteen rows of pearls, the first or smaller row encircling the neck, and each row in turn being larger until the fifteenth row reaches to the bosom or even to the waist.
Pearl collars are usually made up of four, six, ten, twenty, and even twenty-five rows; often of very small pearls, generally fitting closely to the neck. The pearls are held in position either by four gold, diamond, or jeweled bars, or frequently the entire front of the collar is occupied by a large diamond ornament.
In ancient times, pearls were a favorite decoration of crosses; frequently an entire cross was made up of pearls, either of a single or a double row. Many portraits dating from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century show the cross used in connection with a necklace, this either starting from the top of the cross or from each side at the end of each arm. Sometimes from below the arms and the lower part of the cross there hung pendant either round or pear-shaped pearls. We have other instances where at the top, the cross was attached to a pearl necklace, while below each of the two arms there hung a pearl, and from the lower part of the cross a double necklace again reached to the back of the neck. Frequently a festoon collar will be made up of five rows of pearls, each of a graduated length, and pendant on each a diamond. Recently pearls have been drilled and invisibly joined by fine platinum links, so as to form a continuous ribbon or even a collar two inches wide; occasionally, a Greek border or some other design, of larger pearls or of diamonds, rubies, sapphires or other gems, is interwoven. This constitutes a veritable, smooth pearl cloth, or pearl mesh, very beautiful and also comfortable to wear. Indeed, a purse, measuring five by six inches, has been made of this cloth of pearls.
Jade jar inlaid with pearls set with fine gold
Heber R. Bishop Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art
