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FAMOUS PEARLS AND COLLECTIONS 461
were
stolen. More than one hundred, each over thirty grains in weight, were
received in England, and sold at an average of nearly one thousand
dollars.
A
similar booty came from the spoliation during the war between China and
Japan in 1894, and during the Boxer outbreaks of 1901, and quantities
of pearls, often large and of fine color, but a little the worse for
wear, were brought to the United States and Europe by the
soldiers and officials, and also by traders and travelers who obtained
them in China. The pendant figured is one of these objects.
The Gogibus Pearl. This
famous pearl, said to have been the largest in Europe, weighed no less
than 126 carats (504 grains). It was pear-shaped and of fine orient,
and was brought from the West Indies, in 1620, by François Gogibus, a
native of Calais, who sold it to Philip IV of Spain. As no match could
be found for this magnificent gem, it was mounted as a button in the
royal cap.1
La Reine des Perles. The
large round pearl of the French crown jewels which is listed in the
inventory of 1791 at 200,000 francs, was purchased in 16692
for the sum of 40,000 livres, from a gem-dealer named Bazu, who had
traveled in the East at about the time of Taver-nier's voyage. In the
inventory of 1691, it is described as "a virgin pearl, perfect, round,
and of fine water," weighing 27*^ carats and valued at 90,000 livres.
When the greater part of the jewels were stolen from the Garde-Meuble
in 1792, we are told that the thieves took a pearl inclosed in a gold
box on which was written: "The queen of pearls." This was most probably
the one we have described and there is reason to believe that this same
pearl came later into the possession of the Zozima brothers, and was
called La Pellegrina.
La Régente. This
name was bestowed upon a big, ovate pearl which was in the collection
of the French crown jewels. This pearl, which weighs 337 grains, was
furnished in November, 1811, by the court jewelers, Messrs. Noitat, for
a tiara, worn by Marie Louise, Empress of France. By order of the
emperor, Napoleon III, the pearl was taken out of the tiara and
mounted, in August, 1853, by the Paris jeweler Lemounier into a brooch.
This great brooch, with "La Régente" as the central gem, was bought by
Faberge & Company of St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Princess
Youssoupoff at the "Vente des Diamants de la Couronne" in 1887.
'Robert de Berquen, "Les Merveilles des *Bibl. Nat. MS. "Mélanges de Colbert,"
Indes Orientales et Occidentales," Paris, 1661, Tome 218, p. 14. p. 78 b.
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