Pearl: Pearls as Used in Ornaments & Decoration Page 513



	428 THE BOOK OF THE PEARL A beautiful copy of the gospels \vith covers of gold, ornamented with fourteen large sapphires, thirteen balas-rubies, two cameos, and eighty-nine good-sized pearls. The following items are taken from the inventory of the treasury of the abbey of St. Denis, made in 1534, during the reign of Francis I. This record is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris :¹ A crown of gold, with four fleurons, garnished with several balas-rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and pearls; valued at 59,980 crowns (about $135,000). A golden cross and within it a piece of the True Cross which belonged to "Jeanne d'Evreux, royne de France et de Navarre," valued, with the pearls that decorate it, at 345 crowns ($776). A wooden chest containing eleven cases in which were many precious stones and large and small pearls, both oriental and Scotch; valued at 1858 crowns ($4180). A number of priestly vestments embroidered with seed-pearls are inventoried at 1200 crowns ($2700). A blue satin chasuble bordered with pearls is valued at 350 crowns ($787). An altar-table, set in the "grand altar," is described as elaborately decorated with "arches and pillars and images of gold" in low relief, and garnished with precious stones and pearls. The value is given as 1203 crowns ($2700). Another altar-table similarly ornamented is valued at 2645 crowns ($5850). Above this table was a great cross of gold with a silver border, called the "cross of St. Eloysius" (the patron saint of goldsmiths) ; this was valued at 2291 crowns ($5154). Over the sarcophagus containing the body of St. Denis, there was "a large tabernacle of wood-work resembling a church, with a lofty nave and low arches." In this nave and in the transepts there were three representations of sarcophagi ; the whole was covered with gold, precious stones, and pearls, and was valued at 7275 crowns ($16,368). The head of St. Denis, incased in gold, was borne by two silver-gilt angels, while a third held a small shrine containing a portion of the jaw-bone of the saint. All these objects were studded with precious stones and pearls, and were valued at 5622 crowns ($12,650). There were also in the treasury several miters covered with "ounce-pearls" and decorated with gold and silver bands; on this field several larger pearls were set. One of these miters is valued at 964 crowns ($2169) ^an<3 another at 509 crowns ($1135). The total value of the articles inventoried is 185,500 crowns (at least $417,375)· Inventories of the property of the dukes of Lorraine, dated 1544, 1552, and 1614, mention a number of pearl ornaments. In the in- ¹ Bibliothèque Nationale MS. fr. 18766 (S.Germain fr. 910) 40 ff. Bound in green velvet.