The Book of the Pearl by George Frederick Kunz Charles Hugh Stevenson

337 Pages·2021·3.39 MB·English

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of the Pearl, by
George Frederick Kunz and Charles Hugh Stevenson

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.

Title: The Book of the Pearl
The history, art, science, and industry of the queen of gems

Author: George Frederick Kunz
Charles Hugh Stevenson

Release Date: September 26, 2020 [EBook #63299]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE PEARL ***

Produced by Richard Tonsing, Chris Curnow, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

THE BOOK OF

THE PEARL

THE CZARINA OF RUSSIA

THE BOOK OF
THE PEARL

THE HISTORY, ART, SCIENCE, AND INDUSTRY OF THE QUEEN OF GEMS

BY

GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ, A.M., Ph.D.

AND

CHARLES HUGH STEVENSON, LL.M., D.C.L.

Orient pearls fit for a queen
Will I give thy love to win,
And a shell to keep them in.

—The Faithful Shepherdess (1611)

NEW YORK

THE CENTURY CO.

1908

Copyright, 1908, by

The Century Co.

Published October, 1908

THE DE VINNE PRESS

TO

MARGARET, THE PEARL

AS A SLIGHT MARK OF APPRECIATION BY THE AUTHORS OF HER FATHER’S GENEROUS
ENCOURAGEMENT OF SCIENCE, ART, ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND LITERATURE

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PAGE

Introduction
xv

I
Pearls among the Ancients
3

II
Medieval and Modern History of Pearls
15

III
Origin of Pearls
35

IV
Structure and Forms of Pearls
51

V
Sources of Pearls
65

VI
The Pearl Fisheries of the Persian Gulf
85

VII
East African Pearl Fisheries
153

VIII
Pearl Fisheries of the British Isles
159

IX
Pearl Fisheries of the South Sea Islands
189

X
Pearl Fisheries of Venezuela
225

XI
Pearl-Culture and Pearl-Farming
285

XII
Mystical and Medicinal Properties of Pearls
301

XIII
Values and Commerce of Pearls
319

XIV
Treatment and Care of Pearls
375

XV
Pearls as Used in Ornaments and Decoration
403

XVI
Famous Pearls and Collections
449

XVII
The Aboriginal Use of Pearls, and Their Discovery in Mounds and Graves
485

Bibliography
517

Index
541

vii

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

ix

x

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 Cingalese
110–111

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

xi

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

xii

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

xiii

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.

xv

xvi

xvii

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.

xviii

xix

1