Whosoever may hear of it, let him pity me:
And should any woman adorn herself with an ornament
From my ornaments, may she die with no other than my death.”
It would be very unlikely that after understanding these last words of the Princess Tajah (a name which quabalistically would imply “the Sacrifice”) any woman would be bold enough to attempt to put on the seven ropes of dead pearls and the other jewels that adorned the mortal remains of the famine-stricken princess.
Turning to later times Benvenuto Cellini tells in his interesting memoirs rather an amusing story of a string of pearls which the Duke of Florence purchased for the Duchess from “that scoundrel Bernardini” for several thousand crowns. Princess Catherine Radziwill whose intimacy with the old Courts of Europe is well known, tells of the love of the Russian Empress Marie Alexandrovna (grandmother of the unfortunate Nicholas II), for pearls which she never tired of buying. She wore ropes of from 25 to 30 which, being of varied lengths, would when worn extend from the top to the hem of her dress. She was reputed to have had some of the largest pear-shaped pearls in the world. James Bruce, the famous traveller (“Travels to discover the Sources of the Nile,” 1768-1773), writes that the pinna or wing shell mentioned by Pliny which is found with its fibre-like rope on the bed of the Red Sea yields the beautiful pink-tinted pearl so highly prized in ancient and modern times. Red or rose coloured pearls are termed by the natives SOHIT-AMUKTI. Marco Polo mentions that they are found off the island of Chipangu, “big, round and rosy, and quite as valuable as white ones.” He also writes that when a dead body is burnt one of these pearls is always put in the mouth, “for such is their custom.” Pearls of this tint are accounted as precious objects and were used in Buddhist ceremonial and worship. Julius Cæsar was extremely fond of pearls. Caius Suetonius (“Lives of the Cæsars”), tells us that he was a great expert and knew so much about them that he could estimate their exact weights “by his hand alone.” The same writer tells us that Cæsar’s love of pearls was the cause of his expedition against Britain, the pearls he obtained there being, greatly to his chagrin, of poor quality and little lustre. Nevertheless, we are told he consecrated a breastplate set with British pearls to the temple of Venus Genetrix. It is recorded that Cæsar gave Servilia, the mother of Brutus, a pearl worth nearly £50,000 sterling. Pearls in the time of the Cæsars were the rage in Rome and women adorned themselves lavishly with them, a custom which drew violent protests from the philosopher Seneca who, alluding to a lady who wore several pearls dangling from each ear, told her husband that his wife “carried all the wealth of his house in her ears.”
Horoscope of Mary of Scotland
Pearls would be considered unfortunate for these rival Queens.
In the extravagant intoxication of the rich banquet which Kleopatra VII (Tryphena the Great) gave to the honour of Mark Anthony, it is related that this queen—the last of the Ptolemies—throwing one of her valuable pearls into a vinegar solution, swallowed it. The value of this gem is set down as £80,729 sterling. Its companion afterwards graced the statue of the Pantheon Venus at Rome. Kleopatra was not alone in this act of folly for we are informed that Clodius, son of Æsopus the actor, swallowed a pearl valued at £8072 sterling. Caligual, the Roman Emperor, added this act also to his many acts of stupidity. He too enjoyed the reputation of a “pearl swallower,” which title in the reign of Queen Elizabeth was also coveted by Sir Thomas Gresham who quaffed off a large pearl at a banquet which the Queen attended after visiting the Royal Exchange. The poet Hey wood alludes to this act in the lines:
“Here £15,000 at one clap goes
Instead of sugar: Gresham drinks the pearl