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Shakespeare and Precious Stones
the sitters, was not uncommonly practised thirty or forty years ago, when colored tintypes were popular. These were painted on the photographs, much to the gratification of those who ordered them for distribution among their friends.
The court-jewellers of France in Shakespeare's day rivalled, though they did not excel, those of England. Among them a prominent place belongs to Francois Dujardin (or Desjardin), goldsmith of Charles IX (1560-1574) and Henri III (1574-1589). When a verification and an inventory of the French Crown Jewels were made on August I, 1574, after the death of Charles IX, the expert examination was entrusted to Francois Dujardin, who is termed "orfebvre et lapidaire du Roy." The goldsmith's art was passed down from father to son in this family: a second F. Dujardin (b. ca. 1565) mounted the parures made for Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Henri IV and Maria de' Medici. In the reign of Henri IV and the succeeding regency of Maria de' Medici, Josse de Langerac, received as master goldsmith in 1594, and the brothers Rogier, are noted as leading goldsmiths who, besides executing many fine jewels, frequently made loans of money to the Queen Regent, and seem to have experienced
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