LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Czarina of Russia[Frontispiece]
FACING PAGE
Ancient Chinese crown with pearls. Ancient Chinese pearl rosary. Chinese priests keeping guard over the tombs of the kings, in Mukden, where the crowns are preserved[4]
Grecian pearl and gold necklace[8]
Front cover of Ashburnham manuscript of the Four Gospels[16]
Francis I, King of France, 1494–1547. Isabelle de Valois[19]
  (From photographs by A. Giraudon)
Maria Theresa (1717–1780), Queen of Hungary[24]
Facsimile of title-page of decrees of Venetian Senate regulating the wearing of pearls[27]
Lady Abinger. Mrs. Adair. Baroness de Forest. Hon. Mrs. Renard Gréville. Marchioness of Lansdowne. Lady Londonderry. Lady Wimborne[30]
  (From photographs, copyright by Lafayette, Ltd., London)
Venezuela shell. Panama shell[36]
Shells from Venezuela with attached pearls. Exterior view of same. X-ray photograph of shell, printed through exterior of shell and showing encysted pearls[39]
Mexican pearl-oyster with adherent pearl. Group of encysted pearls in shell of Australian pearl-oyster. Mexican pearl-oyster with encysted fish. Group of encysted pearls (oriental). Reverse of same group, showing outline of the individual pearls[42]
Cross section of an irregular pearl, magnified 80 diameters. Cross sections of pearls, magnified 30 diameters. Thin section of mother-of-pearl, magnified, showing sponge borings which traversed the pearl shell. Structure of conch pearl produced by fracturing, magnified 80 diameters[53]
Pearls from common clam of eastern coast of America. Pearl “nuggets” from the Mississippi Valley. Wing pearls from the Mississippi Valley. Dog-tooth pearls from the Mississippi Valley[55]
Actual sizes of pearls from ⅛ grain to 160 grains[57]
Brooches made of petal, dog-tooth, and wing pearls[58]
Gray pearls in the possession of an American lady and brooch from Tiffany & Co.’s exhibit, Paris Exposition, 1900[60]
Shell of pearl-oyster with attached pearl[68]
Pinna or wing shell. Pearl-oyster of Ceylon[72]
Shell and pearls of the common conch[76]
Cargo boat in pearl fishery of the Persian Gulf. Huts of mats and palm leaves, the homes of the pearl fishermen at Menamah, Bahrein Islands, Persian Gulf[87]
Agha Mohammed (1666–1725). Shah Sulaiman (1647–1694)[88]
Arab pearl-divers at work in the Persian Gulf[90]
His Imperial Majesty, Mohammed Ali, Shah of Persia[94]
The “Prince of Pearls”; the late Rana of Dholpur in his pearl regalia[101]
The late Maharajah of Patiala[108]
Facsimiles of notices of pearl-fishing at Marichchikadde, in English and Cingalese110–[111]
Unloading oysters from the vessels into the kottus at Marichchikadde, Ceylon. The pearling fleet on the shore at Marichchikadde, Ceylon. Hindu workmen preparing to drill pearls, Marichchikadde, Ceylon[115]
Indian pearl merchants ready for business. Children of Persian pearl dealers[120]
Street scene in Marichchikadde, the pearling camp of Ceylon. Return of the fleet from the pearl reefs to Marichchikadde, Ceylon[126]
Pearls presented by the Imam of Muscat to President Van Buren[131]
Necklace and earrings from the treasury of the Emir of Bohkara[136]
Carved “Jerusalem Shell” from the Red Sea[142]
Cap of State, from looting of summer palace, Pekin, in 1860[145]
Fishing for the awabi (abalone) shells at Wada-no-hara, Japan[148]
  (From “The Burlington Art Magazine”)
Old print showing four methods of catching pearl-bearing mollusks[160]
Madame Norischkine née Straudman. Duchesse Elizabeth (Constantin).
(From a photograph by Ch. Bergamasco, St. Petersburg) (From a photograph by A. Pasetti, St. Petersburg)
Daughter of General Sobelieff, first Countess Beauharnais		[163]
Scotch pearl rivers[167]
Great Cameo Pearl[170]
Dowager Czarina of Russia. Grand Duchess Vladimir.
(From a photograph by Ch. Bergamasco, St. Petersburg)
Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna		[174]
Miter of Patriarch Nikon[176]
Panagia or ornament worn on the breast of a bishop in Russia[180]
Russian Boyard ladies of the seventeenth century, showing caps and other ornaments of pearls[184]
Pearl-divers of the Tuamotu Archipelago. Settlement of pearl fishermen at Hiqueru, Tuamotu Archipelago[197]
Pearling boats at Hiqueru, Tuamotu Archipelago. Australian pearl-diver (armored) coming up from the depths[204]
Opening pearl-oysters and searching for pearls, off the coast of Australia. Grading, weighing, and packing mother-of-pearl, off the coast of Australia[213]
Moro boats, used among the pearl islands of the Malay Archipelago. Raft used for pearl-fishing in the Malay Archipelago[216]
Pearling village, with youthful fishermen, Sulu Islands. Japanese diver in Dutch East Indies, come up to “blow” for a few minutes[220]
Gray pearls from Lower California, and diamonds[228]
Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II[237]
The Adams gold vase[248]
Negro pearling camp, on bank of an Arkansas river. Group of Arkansas pearl fishermen[254]
Brooch, Renaissance style, set with baroque pearls, from American streams[259]
Brooches and rings of fresh-water pearls from Wisconsin and Tennessee[262]
Pearl-bearing unios[266]
Pearling scene on White River, Arkansas. Pearling camp on upper Mississippi River[270]
The evolution of buttons, made from Mississippi shells[275]
Necklace of fresh-water pearls[276]
Shell of pearl-bearing abalone[280]
Shell of Dipsas plicatus, with attached metal figures of Buddha coated with nacre. Shell of Dipsas plicatus, with attached porcelain beads coated with nacre[286]
Artificial rearing-ponds for the development of pearl-oysters on the Island of Espiritŭ Santo, Gulf of California. Trays containing small pearl-oysters prepared for placing at the bottom of artificial rearing-ponds[291]
Japanese legend of the dragon and the pearl, idealized in Jade[302]
Russian eikon of the Madonna[312]
Pectoral cross of Constantine IX, Monomachus (1000–1054 A.D.)[321]
Great pearl necklace of the French crown jewels[332]
The Siamese Prince in full regalia[336]
Half-pearls: lots of three different sizes. Brooch of half-pearls and onyx, United States, 1860[343]
Pearl nose rings, Baroda, India. East Indian earring of strings of pearls and table diamonds. Grape pendants. Oriental pearls[345]
Necklace containing 126,000 seed-pearls, Louis XVI period[346]
Seed-pearls and gold; Chinese ornaments of the nineteenth century. Complete set of seed-pearl jewelry in original case[357]
Persian princess and ladies in waiting[364]
Facsimiles of the title-page and last leaf of an enactment abolishing duty on pearls, English Parliament, 1732[368]
Pearl drilling[376]
Pearl stringing[383]
Necklace of seed-pearls, United States, Civil War period[389]
Mother-of-pearl shell from Tahiti[390]
Ladies’ sewing case and scissors inlaid with half-pearls; watches incrusted with half-pearls; snuff-box, ivory inlaid with fresh-water pearls; miniature surrounded by half-pearls[395]
Evolution of a seed-pearl brooch. Seed-pearls, Indian strings. White horsehair for stringing[396]
Facsimile of letter of M. Gaston Mogeaud, Director of the Louvre[398]
Madame Thiers’s pearl necklace, bequeathed to the Louvre Museum, Paris[398]
  (From a photograph by A. Giraudon)
Antique ornaments of pearls[404]
Tyszkiewizc bronze statuette of Aphrodite[407]
Pearl earrings from Herculaneum and Pompeii[408]
Antique pearl ornaments[410]
East Indian necklace of pearls, table diamonds, glass beads, gold and enamel[413]
Crown of Reccesvinthus and other Gothic crowns of the seventh century[416]
  (From a photograph by A. Giraudon)
Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India[418]
  (From a photograph by W. & D. Downey, London)
Crown of St. Edward[424]
  (From “The English Regalia,” published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company, Ltd., London)
The Empress Dowager of China[431]
Pearl ornaments of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries[434]
Margherita, Dowager Queen of Italy[439]
Collection of black pearls belonging to an American lady[440]
Señora Carmen Romero Rubio de Diaz, wife of President Porfirio Diaz of Mexico[442]
  (From a photograph by Valleto & Co., Mexico)
Jade jar inlaid with pearls set with fine gold. Japanese decoration set with pearls[444]
Gaikwar of Baroda, 1908[450]
Mary, Queen of Scots[453]
  (From “Portraits and Jewels of Mary Stuart,” published by James MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow)
Queen Elizabeth of England. Elizabeth of France[456]
Pearl carpet or shawl of the Gaikwar of Baroda[460]
The Hope pearl. Weighs 1800 grains[463]
Her Grace, the Duchess of Marlborough[465]
  (From a photograph by Lafayette, Ltd., London)
The Madame Nordica collection of colored pearls[468]
Grand pearl diadem of the French crown jewels[471]
The Imperial Austrian crown[472]
The Great Sévigné of the French crown jewels[474]
Madame Nordica[476]
Mrs. George J. Gould[480]
Fresh-water pearls from Hopewell group of mounds, Ross County, Ohio[499]
Fresh-water pearls from Hopewell group of mounds, Ross County, Ohio[510]

MAPS

PAGE
The pearling regions in Ceylon and British India[129]
Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, the pearling center of the world[140]
The pearling regions in Oceania and Malaysia[191]
Venezuela and Panama, the principal pearling regions of South America[227]
Gulf of California and the pearling territory of western Mexico[243]

INTRODUCTION

The preparation of this book has been a joint labor during the spare moments of the two authors, whose time has been occupied with subjects to which pearls are not wholly foreign—one as a gem expert, and the other in the fisheries branch of the American government. But for the views and expressions contained herein, they alone are personally responsible, and do not represent or speak for any interest whatever. For many years the writers have collected data on the subject of pearls, and have accumulated all the obtainable literature, not only the easily procurable books, but likewise manuscripts, copies of rare volumes, original edicts, and legislative enactments, thousands of newspaper clippings, and interesting illustrations, many of them unique, making probably the largest single collection of data in existence on this particular subject. It was deemed advisable to present the results of these studies and observations in one harmonious volume, rather than in two different publications. This publication is not a pioneer in an untrodden field. As may be seen from the appended bibliography, during the last two thousand years hundreds of persons have discussed pearls—mystically, historically, poetically, and learnedly. Among the older writers who stand out with special prominence in their respective periods are the encyclopedist Pliny, in the first century A.D.; Oviedo and Peter Martyr of the sixteenth century; the physician Anselmus De Boot, and that observant traveler and prince of jewelers, Tavernier, in the seventeenth century. It would be difficult to do justice to the many writers of the nineteenth century and of the present time; but probably most attention has been attracted by the writings of Hessling and Möbius of Germany; Kelaart, Streeter, Herdman, and Hornell of Great Britain; Filippi of Italy, and Seurat and Dubois of France. While the book is a joint work in the sense that each writer has contributed material to all of the chapters and has critically examined and approved the entire work, the senior author has more closely applied himself to the latter half of the text, covering antiquity values, commerce, wearing manipulation, treatment, famous collections, aboriginal use, and the illustrations, while the junior author has attended to the earlier half of the book, with reference to history, origin, sources, fisheries, culture, mystical properties, and the literature of the pearl.

The senior author has had exceptionally favorable opportunities to examine the precious objects contained in the various imperial and royal treasuries. Through the courtesy of the late Count Sipuigine, Court Chamberlain, and of the late General Philamanoff, custodian of the Ourejena Palata, he was permitted to critically examine the Russian crown jewels in the Summer Palace on the Neva, and in the Palata in the Kremlin, at Moscow, he examined the crowns and jewels of all the early czars. Through the courtesy of Baron von Theile, he was permitted to inspect carefully and in detail the wonderful jewels of the Austrian crown, which are beautifully ordered and arranged. The English and Saxon crown jewels were also seen under favorable conditions which permitted detailed examination, and the jewel collections of almost all the principal museums of Europe and America were carefully studied. As regards the literature of the subject, the senior author has gathered together the largest known existing collection of works treating of pearls and precious stones.

In covering so comprehensive a subject, many obligations have been incurred from individuals and officials, to whose courtesy and assistance is due much of the interest of this work. To list all of these is impossible, yet it would be ungrateful not to note the following: her Majesty Queen Margherita of Italy; his Royal Highness the Gaikwar of Baroda; to H. R. H. le Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria, of Munich; to the late Prince Sipuigine, then chamberlain of the Russian Imperial Appanages; to Sir Edward Robert Pearce Edgcumbe for data relative to fisheries of East Africa; Dr. H. C. Bumpus, director of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, for many courtesies in regard to materials and illustrations; Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke, director, Dr. Edward Robinson, assistant director, J. H. Buck, curator of Metal-work, and A. G. St. M. D’Hervilly, assistant curator of Paintings, all of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for numerous courtesies; Archer M. Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society and Museum in New York City; Dr. Bashford Dean, Prof. Friedrich Hirth, Chinese professor, Dr. Berthold Laufer, Prof. A. V. Williams Jackson, professor of Indo-Iranian languages, and Prof. M. H. Saville, all of Columbia University, New York City; J. Pierpont Morgan, for the right to publish the illustration of Ashburnham missal; Dr. W. Hayes Ward, Assyriologist; Dr. Charles S. Braddock, formerly Chief of Medical Inspection for the King of Siam; Robert Hoe, for the two plates of unique Persian illustrations from his manuscripts; Edmund Russell, for East Indian material; F. Cunliffe-Owen, the author of diplomatic subjects; Ten Broeck Morse; Walter Joslyn; Stansbury Hagar; Henri de Morgan, explorer; Dr. Nathaniel L. Britton, director New York Botanical Garden, J. H. Lawles, and Ludwig Stross, for many courtesies; Miss M. de Barril and Miss Belle da Costa Greene, all of New York; Dr. Stewart W. Culin, of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; the Contessa Casa Cortez, for Peruvian information, of Brooklyn; Dr. Charles B. Davenport, of the Carnegie Institution Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor; Arthur C. Parker, archæologist, State Museum, Albany, N. Y.; A. S. Clark, antiquarian, Peekskill, N. Y.; Dr. Richard Rathbun, assistant secretary, Dr. Cyrus Adler, curator, Dr. Otis S. Mason, curator of Ethnology, all of the Smithsonian Institution; Dr. S. W. Stratton, chief of the Bureau of Standards; Miss E. R. Scidmore; Gilbert H. Grosvenor, editor, National Geographic Magazine; Hon. William Eleroy Curtis; his Excellency Enrique C. Creel, Embajador de Mexico, and James T. Archbold, war correspondent, all of Washington, D. C.; Prof. W. P. Wilson, director Philadelphia Commercial Museum, Clarence B. Moore, Academy of Natural Sciences, and T. Louis Comparette, curator Numismatic Collection, U. S. Mint, all of Philadelphia; Prof. Henry Montgomery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Dr. Warren K. Moorehead, archæologist, Andover, Mass.; H. D. Story, and Theo. M. Davis, curators of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.; Miss Mathilde Laigle of Wellesley College; Prof. F. W. Putnam and Alfred M. Tozzer, Peabody Museum of Archæology, Cambridge, Mass.; Prof. Edward S. Morse, Salem, Mass.; Dr. Hiram Bingham, Yale University; W. E. Frost, Providence, R. I.; Dr. Edgar J. Banks, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.; Hon. F. J. V. Skiff, director, for several photographs of museum material, and Dr. George A. Dorsey, curator of Anthropology of the Field Columbian Museum; Dr. A. R. Crook, curator of the Museum of Natural History, Springfield, Ill.; Richard Hermann, director Hermann Museum, Dubuque, Ia.; Charles Russell Orcutt, San Diego, Cal.; David I. Bushnell, St. Louis, Mo.; Dr. J. H. Stanton, Prairie du Chien, Wis.; Joe Gassett, Clinton, Tenn.; Prof. Wm. C. Mills, University of Ohio, Columbus, O., for material covering the new Ohio mound discoveries; Mrs. Marie Robinson Wright, author and South American traveler, New York City; Miss Helen Woolley of Judson College, Alabama; Prof. Dr. Eugene Hussak, Rio Janeiro; Hon. George E. Anderson, Consul General of the United States, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Señor L. E. Bonilla, Consul General of Colombia; Madam Zelia Nuttall, Coyoacan, Mexico; Prof. Waldstein, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England; Dr. O. F. Bell, assistant keeper Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Dr. Stephen W. Bushell, Chinese authority; Lady Christopher Johnston, Dr. William F. Petrie, University College, Dr. Charles Hercules Read, director of the department of Archæology, British Museum, for illustrations and data; Cyril Davenport, antiquarian writer of the British Museum, for the illustration of the English crown, and crown information; to Sir John Evans, late veteran archæologist and writer; Thomas Tyrer, chemist, W. Talbot Ready, A. W. Feaveryear, E. Alfred Jones, author on metal-work, Edwin W. Streeter, all of London, England; Prof. H. P. Blackmore, curator Blackmore Museum, Salisbury, England; Dr. Thos. Gann, Harrogate, England; Prof. Arthur E. Shipley, Cambridge, England; Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, Labrador; T. W. Lyster, librarian of the National Library of Ireland, Prof. R. F. Scharff, director of the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, W. Forbes Hourie, all of Ireland; Mr. James Hornell, Dr. W. A. Herdmann, all on information concerning the Ceylon fisheries; Prof. James M. Milne, Belfast, Ireland; David MacGregor, Perth, Scotland; Joseph Baer & Co., Frankfurt, Germany; Herrn C. W. Kesseller, Idar, Germany; Prof. Dr. Carl Sapper, University of Tübingen, Germany; Geheimrath Prof. Dr. Max Bauer, University of Marburg, Germany; Herrn Prof. Dr. Hofer, director Biologische Versuchsstation, Munich; Herrn Ernst Gideon Bek, Pforzheim, Germany; Hon. Albert H. Michelsen, American Consul at Turin; Sabbatino De Angelis, of Naples, Italy; Mons. Alphonse Falco, of the Chambre Syndicale Pierres Précieuses of Paris; Prof. A. Lacroix, Musée Histoire Naturale, Paris; Mons. Georges Pellisier, Paris; Sr. Gaston J. Vives, La Paz, Mexico; Prof. R. Dubois, Faculté des Sciences, University of Lyons, France; Prof. P. Candias, director of the National Museum, Athens, Greece; Prof. G. A. F. Molengraaff, University of Delft, Holland; the late Prof. Dr. Furtwängler of Munich; Dr. Otto Leiner, Custus Landes-Museum at Constanz, Baden; Herrn Dr. A. B. Meyer, Herrn Carl Marfels, Berlin; Prof. Dr. H. Schumacher, University of Bonn; Geheimrath C. F. Hintze, Breslau; Herrn R. Friedlaender & Sohn, Berlin; Herrn Reg.-Rath Dr. W. von Seidlitz, Dresden; Dr. R. Jacobi, director König Zoologichen Museum, Dresden, Germany; his Excellency Dr. Szalaz, director Hungarian National Museum; Dr. S. Radischi, director National Industrial Museum of Budapest; and to Herrn A. B. Bachrach, Budapest, Hungary; Frau Melanie Glazer, of Prague, and Herrn V. Fric, Prague, Bohemia; Herrn Prof. Dr. F. Heger, Custus Imperial Archæological Collection, Vienna; Herrn H. von Willer and Herrn Max Zirner, of Vienna; Herrn Leopold Weininger, the artisan goldsmith of Austria, for many courtesies; Prof. W. Vernadskij, University of Moscow; Mons. C. Faberje, Joaillier de la Cour, St. Petersburg, Russia; his Excellency Baron P. Meyerdorff, assistant director, Musée des Antiques, Ermitage Impériale, St. Petersburg, for important data and illustrations; his Excellency N. J. Moore, Premier, Western Australia; Dr. K. Van Dort, engineer of Bankok, Siam; Dr. J. Henry Burkill, of the India Museum, Calcutta, India; Alphaeus E. Williams, manager of the De Beers Mine, Kimberley; Capt. E. L. Steever, District Governor of Jolo, Philippine Islands; Dr. T. Nishikawa, Zoölogical Institute; K. Mikimoto, both of Tokio, Japan; Dr. S. M. Zwemer of Bahrein, Persian Gulf; Mr. Hugh Millman of Thursday Island, Australia; Julius D. Dreher, American Consul at Tahiti, Society Islands; and not least, by any means, the uniform promptness and completeness with which the officials of the British Colonial Service have responded to the many inquiries which the writers have addressed to them.

The Authors.

September, 1908.