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Ch. 8: The Great Table Diamond

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THE GREAT TABLE.
89
This is all that Tavernier tells us of this re­markable stone, which is illustrated in the first, though not in subsequent editions of his work. The repre­sentation shows it to be table-cut, so that it may be easily recognized, should it again come to light in India or elsewhere ; for since the time of Tavernier it has not been seen by any European expert. Its pecu­liar form would easily allow of its being reduced by cleavage to two or more stones, a fate that has possibly befallen it. Many stones have from time to time been so treated, for the express purpose of destroying their identity, even though their intrinsic value has thereby been greatly reduced. A notable instance is the French " Blue Drop," which was of such an unique character, that after it was stolen from the Garde Meuble, in 1792, it could not be exposed for sale without incurring the risk of instant detection. Hence the necessity of altering its appearance by some process of reduction, as fully explained in our account of the " Hope Blue." In the same way the great " Table," also a stone of an unique type, at least as regarded its size and peculiar shape, was very likely broken up by cleavage into two or more stones, and it is by no means impossible that the Russian " Table," which will be described in a later chapter, may be one of those frag­ments. Pictures and other rare artistic objects are known to have been manipulated in analogous ways for like purposes. One of the numerous and vexatious charges brought by his enemies against Benvenuto Cellini, when employed at the court of Francis I., seems to have been of this character. The method which he
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Ch. 8: The Great Table Diamond Page of 312 Ch. 8: The Great Table Diamond
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