THE HOPE PEARL. WEIGHS 1800 GRAINS
Actual size
The owner of La Pellegrina in 1818, Z. P. Zozima, died in Moscow at a great age, in 1827. He was a Greek dealer in curiosities and gems, who had resided in Moscow for a long time, and had many clients among the nobility of Russia. It is stated that a few months before his death the best pieces of his collection, including La Pellegrina, were stolen from him by a compatriot.
Moscow Pearl, 1840. The German traveler, Johann Georg Kohl (1808–1878), in the account of his travels in Russia, relates an interesting incident connected with a beautiful pearl in the Imperial Treasury. Shortly previous to 1840, a rich Moscow merchant died in a convent, whither he had retreated after the manner of the wealthy pious ones of his nation. Feeling the approach of age, he had given up the toils of business to his sons. His wife was dead, and the only beloved object which even in the cloister was not separated from him was a large, beautiful, oriental pearl. This precious object had been purchased for him by some Persian or Arabian friend at a high price, and, enchanted by its water, magnificent size, and color, its perfect shape and luster, he would never part with it, however enormous the sum offered. He himself inhabited an ordinary cell in the convent; but this object of his love reposed on silk in a golden casket. It was shown to few persons, and favorable circumstances and strong recommendations were necessary to obtain such a favor. A Moscow resident reported the style and manner of the ceremony. On the appointed day he went with his friends to the convent, and found the old gentleman awaiting his guests in his holiday clothes. Their reception had something of solemnity about it. The old man went into his cell and brought out the casket in its rich covering. He spread white satin on the table, and, unlocking the casket, let the precious pearl roll out before the enchanted eyes of the spectators. No one ventured to touch it, but all burst into acclamations, and the old man’s eyes gleamed like his pearl. After a short time it was returned to the casket. During his last illness, the old gentleman never let the pearl out of his hand, and after his death it was with difficulty taken from his stiffened fingers.
There seems to be a great similarity between the description of this pearl and that of La Pellegrina, although we have been unable to verify our surmise as to their identity.
The Hope Pearl. In the first half of the last century, Henry Philip Hope, a London banker, brought together a great collection of gems, among which were many pearls. The most famous of these was the often-described Hope pearl, one of the largest known; the value of which, however, is not in proportion to its size, owing to its irregular formation. As described in the catalogue of the Hope collection, published in 1839, this oriental pearl is of an irregular pear-shape, weighs 1800 grains, or three ounces, measures two inches in length, and in circumference four and one half inches at the broadest and three and one fourth inches at the narrowest end. The color at the larger end is of a bronze or a dark green copper tint, this gradually clearing into a fine white luster for within one and one half inches of the smaller end. This baroque pearl was firmly attached to the shell, and it yet shows the point of attachment, which has been polished so as to correspond to the remaining portion. It is attractively mounted, the smaller end being capped with an arched crown of red enameled gold set with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds.[[517]] After remaining in the Hope jewel collection at the South Kensington Museum for many years, it was sold at auction, at Christie’s, in 1886, when that collection was placed on the market. This pearl is now held by Messrs. Garrard & Company of London, at the price of £9000.
The Hope collection also contained about 148 pearls of good form. Notable among these were the following: (a) a conical pearl weighing 151 grains, cream-white in color, from Polynesia; (b) a bouton pearl of 124 grains, bluish-white at the top and encircled by a dark bronze color; (c) an oval cream-colored pearl, weighing ninety-four grains, from the South Seas; (d) an eighty-nine-grain, roughly spherical pearl, one side bluish and the other of a light bronze; (e) an eighty-five-grain, acorn-shaped, bluish-white pearl, with a band of opaque white near the base; (f) an oval conch pearl, pink in general color and somewhat whitish at the ends, weighing eighty-two and one fourth grains; (g) another conch pearl, seventy-seven and one half grains, button-shaped, yellowish white with a slight shade of pink; (h) a seventy-six-and-one-half-grain drop-shaped pearl of a chatoyant aspect, of white color shaded with red, purple, and green; and (i) a pear-shaped Scottish pearl of thirty-four and three fourths grains, of a milky bluish caste, slightly tinged with pink.
Van Buren Pearls. Among the collections of the United States National Museum are two pendant pearls each weighing about thirty grains, and a necklace containing 148 pearls with an aggregate weight of 700 grains. These were presented in 1840 to President Van Buren by the Imam of Muscat. They were deposited in the vaults of the Treasury Department, where they remained until a few years ago, when, by the order of the Secretary of the Treasury, they were transferred to the custody of the National Museum where they now are.
HER GRACE, THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH
Thiers Necklace. In the galleries of the Louvre at Paris may be seen a pearl necklace formerly owned by the wife of President Thiers (1797–1887), consisting of 145 pearls in three rows. The weights of the three largest individual pearls are fifty-one, thirty-nine, and thirty-six grains, respectively. The aggregate weight is 2079 grains, and the value at the time of their deposit was estimated at 300,000 francs. This is on a base of $2.02; at a higher valuation the figures would be: