Pearls
are found in the sea-shell and shells of other waters; these are
perforated with a fine steeled instrument which is fixed in wood,
having a small wheel of lead, also another wood in which it may be
turned, to which a strap must be placed by which it may be revolved.
But should it be necessary that the aperture of any pearl be made
larger, a wire may be placed in the opening with a little fine sand,
one end of which may be held in the teeth, the other in the left hand,
and by the right the pearl is conducted upwards and downwards, and in
the meantime sand is applied, that the apertures may become wider. Sea
shells are also cut into pieces and are filed as pearls, sufficiently
useful upon gold, and they are polished as above.1
In
"The Toy Cart," a Hindu drama by Sudrake, who lived about the beginning
of the Christian era, there is a description of a jeweler's workshop
attached to the house of a courtezan. He says : "Some set rubies in
gold, some string gold beads on colored thread, some string pearls,
some grind lapis lazuli, some cut shells and some grind and pierce
coral."2
The
Chinese and Korean method of drilling pearls differs materially from
that of the Occident. A pear-shaped pearl is frequently drilled
horizontally and secured by wire or silk, and not drilled
perpendicularly, as with us, to have a metal wire or peg fastened into
it. If the orientals drill a pearl perpendicularly, the hole is
generally carried entirely through it, and a gold knot, which is used
as a bead, is placed at the lower end, and sometimes a tiny gem is set
in this peg, or else the pearl is secured either by some projection
below, or by means of a bit of enamel, or some other object may be
attached to the gold or wire below it. Button pearls, especially those
of the abalone, are drilled horizontally through the base and secured
to the ornament, or to the silk or other material on which they are
sewed, by means of a thread or wire ; or else they may be drilled from
below by means of two sloping holes forming a V, the thread or wire
being passed upward until it strikes the angle, and then passed outward
again through the other branch of the hole. Many fine, round, and
pear-shaped pearls of oriental origin may be seen with this end closed
either with a speck of pearl, a diamond, or a ruby.
A
most interesting and careful description of the methods of drilling
pearls was given by James Cordiner in his valuable volume, "A
Description of Ceylon," published in London in 1807, pages 64-66.
'"An Essay upon Various Arts, in Three "'Indian Art," by Sir George C. M. Bird-Books
by Theophilus, called also Rugerus, wood (South Kensington Museum Art
Books), Priest and Monk, Forming an Encyclopedia Pt. II, pp. 188, 248. of Christian Art of the Eleventh Century." Translated, with notes, by Robert Hendrie. London, 1847.
