As souvenirs of the depths of the sea in the New World in the 15th century, pearls are simply something diamonds, emeralds, and rubies that can never be matched: they are alive. Pearls are ghosts, animals, and aliens. They ushered in a war of old rich men frantically "snatching pearls" and became the ultimate status symbol. Nothing captures the strangeness and vitality of pearls better than a Renaissance pearl figurine pendant...
Pendant, salamander-shaped, enamel gold inlaid with pearls and emeralds
An emerald-eating salamander, a woman riding a seahorse, a pearl-shaped cherub with a back. Gods, monkeys, castles, and pearls of all shapes that inspire are incorporated into these figurine pendants. Much of this is due to the rise of Renaissance humanism— which was actually the fancy word of the highly educated hippies of the time; it supported the study of ancient Greek philosophy, poetry, etc., and planted the seeds of the humanities departments of universities we now expect. The open mind of the Renaissance brought with it these strange hybrid pendants, which began to become popular in Europe. The jewelry world is best known as the "Canned Jewelry" (1560), presented to a Mughal emperor of India by the Medici family:
Canned jewelry
The pearl shape of the canned jewelry is peculiar, however, as a mermaid king's dorsal and abs, it is perfect. The mermaid king of the sea holds a sword studded with diamonds, and his curled tail is filled with enamel gold, rubies, and other Baroque pearls. Today, the Canning Jewel will sell for more than $500,000, and its sister pendants aren't cheap either. So let's take a look in the window...
Mermaid pendant (left) and a castle made of pearls
Riton's pendant, riding a unicorn-like sea creature, ca.
Hound pendant c.1560 gold, pearl
Eros and Cupid on the dolphin, ca. 1859
Ship-shaped pendant and pendant of a woman riding a seahorse
Seated cat pendant, late 16th to early 17th century
The Crusaders brought them to Europe, and in the Middle Ages, until the 19th century, they were considered to have psychotherapeutic powers.
You dissolve them in vinegar, add some milk and honey, and then rumble — you're like drinking a Red Bull.
Queen Elizabeth I held her head high and hung around her neck something known as a bushel pearl. Even after her death, it was embedded in pearl medallions on her shoes and worn to show off her strength.
Italy, in 1400, had master gold and pearl jewelers, and among the wealthy classes throughout Europe, opened up their demand for pearls. The pearls imported from the Americas really opened the "pearl age". In this era, pearls were so popular that elites began to pass laws that prescribed who and who could not wear them. For them, they are an elusive, incomprehensible form of money that can be used for a variety of purposes (medicinal, spiritual, aesthetic), and you can also understand that it is a bit like Renaissance Bitcoin.
Baroque pearls of the 16th century
Balboa, a 16th-century Spanish explorer, discovered a 200-grain pear-shaped pearl in the Gulf of Panama, named after her favorite falcon, "La Peregrina," which has been safely preserved in the crown for centuries.
Elizabeth Taylor wears the famous pearl in Anne of a Thousand Days
Then, in 1969, Richard Burton bought it for the equivalent of 250K today' Elizabeth Taylor... His dog chewed it up.
It wasn't until the early 20th century that the obsession with pearls became less intense with the rise of cultured pearls. Still, the Victorian era often found them revisiting the grotesque pearls of the Renaissance, looking like the British Jewellery Chamber like Rowlandson, who occasionally still made pearl jewelry from the Renaissance tradition. Check out the ballerina's work in 1999! The grotesque-looking charm isn't dead after all.
There are still these naturally shaped pearls for sale in a treasure, known as "Baroque pearls", but there is no such wonderful creativity and inlay.
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