Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c24.s1.t6: On Pearl
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c24.s1.t6
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On Pearl
v1.c24.s1.t6.1
The pearl is a deposit formed around a foreign substance in the mantle of pearly mussel, *Meleagrina margaritifera*, Ham., family Aviculidae, a parasitic larva, the larval condition of a cestode of tapeworm. This cestode passes from the body of the pearl mussel into that of a file-fish or oyster or ray. The oysters etc. produce nacre which clings to the foreign piece in their ovaries. The nacre is the constituent of a pearl, and consists of thousands of layers of crystallised calcium alternating with thin sheets of protein. During this twentieth century, Mikimoto has simulated the above process in mass scale production of artificial pearls. (A Passion for Pearls, Frontline, July 23 — August 5, 1988)
v1.c24.s1.t6.2
The Greeks were acquainted with the Bahrein pearls which have luster but yellow tints; to the foreigners the white pearls of India have always been much more covetable. During the Roman period the pearl trade was controlled by the Pāṇḍyas and the Colas. The Pāṇḍyas depended on Gulf of Manner and the fisheries at Kolkai, controlled from Madura, whereas the pearls sold at Argaru and Kaviripaddinam in the Cola kingdom came obviously from the Palk Strait. The best species of oysters known as (*Pinctada Vulgaris*) with beautiful silvery white colour flourishes in the Gulf of Manner. On the Ceylon side the oyster bank lies 68 miles off the Western coast.
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Pliny (9.54-58) wrote that the pearls came into general use in Rome after the surrender of Alexandria, although this gem first began to be used about the time of Sylla. “The first rank, and the very highest position among all valuables belongs to the pearl . . . . . The most productive of pearls is the island of Taprobane (Sri Lanka)”. The author of the *Periplus* observed the convicts in the kingdom of Pāṇḍya diving for pearls in the shallow water between Komarei (Cape Comorin) and Kolkai. The materials were first brought to Argalou (Arikamedu?). Taprobane (Sri Lanka) also produced pearls along with the precious stones.
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Pliny described the then knowledge about the natural formation of pearls:
v1.c24.s1.t6.5
The origin and production of the shell-fish is not very difficult from that of the shell of the oyster. When the genial season of the year exercises its influence on the animal, it is said, that, yawning, as it were, it opens its shell, and so receives a kind of dew, by means of which it becomes impregnated; and that at length it gives birth, after many struggles, to the burden of its shell, in the shape of pearls, which vary according to the quality of the dew.
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Pliny further described how these Indian pearls were adored by the Roman ladies:
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Our ladies glory in having pearls suspended from their fingers, or two or three of them dangling from their ears, delighted even with the rattling of the pearls as they knock against each other.... I once saw Lollia Paulina, the wife of the Emperor Caius, covered with emeralds and pearls, which shone in alternate layers upon her head, in her hair, in her wreaths, in her ears, upon her neck, in her bracelets, and on her fingers, and the value of which amoun-ted in all to 40 million sesterces. (Quotations taken from Schoff)
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Warmington gives further details (1928, 1974: 169-71) about the appreciation of and infatuation with the Indian pearls in the Roman world. St. Gregory commented, "Small is the pearl, but queen among jewels". St. Paul lamented the wearing of pearls by women and girls. Quintilian observed that the craving was not confined to one sex. Emperor Nero possessed large quantities of pearls; he adorned shoes, beds, bed chambers, actors' wands and actors' masks with them, swallowed them in drink (to feel great!). Pliny recounted the well-known story of Cleopatra dissolving a great pearl in vinegar and swallowing it in presence of Antony. Her treasure of 'uniones' (largest and best pearls) was known as 'uniones Cleopatrani' which passed on from one owner to another, such as virtuous Calpurnia. All these materials came from India.
Cites (1)
- Naturalis historia — C. Plinius Secundus, Latin