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Ch. 3: Antiquity of the Pearl

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ANTIQUITY OF THE PEARL
of Louis XIII. the pearl was prominent in all jewels of note, and from that time to the death of Maria Theresa of Austria toward the close of the eighteenth century, it was worn in prefer­ence to all other gems. It was during the reign of Louis XIII. that Tavernier, the celebrated French Jeweller and traveller, assisted by that monarch, made his journeys into Asia. /'The account of his travels, published later, are highly esteemed for their truthfulness, and are regarded as exact, if prosaic statements of fact. The desire for the gem in Europe at this time was so great that Tavernier purchased over half a million dollars* worth from the Arabian Sea. Probably the immense quantities of pearls sent to Spain from the Indies by her rovers in the early part of the sixteenth century, caused the vogue of that gem during the three centuries following, for not much mention is made of them in western Europe prior to that time. Nevertheless pearls were esteemed in the British Isles as early as the eleventh century, for it is recorded that Gilbert, Bishop of Limerick, sent a present of Irish pearls from the fishery at Omagh, to Anselm, Archbishop of
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Ch. 3: Antiquity of the Pearl Page of 358 Ch. 3: Antiquity of the Pearl
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