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FAMOUS PEARLS AND COLLECTIONS 467
of a skilful 'faker,' this celebrated gem was transformed into a perfect cross."1
Morgan-Tiffany Collection. Probably
the most interesting assortment of American pearls is the
Morgan-Tiffany Collection in the American Museum of Natural History,
New York. The excellence of this collection lies, not in the high cost
of any individual pearl, but in its illustrating in a comprehensive
manner the great variety, colors, and forms of American pearls. Not
only are the many varieties of fresh-water pearls represented, but
likewise abalone pearls from the Pacific coast, conch pearls from the
Gulf of Mexico, and a good assortment of pearly concretions from
edible oysters and clams of the Atlantic coast.
This
collection contains 557 species of white and colored Unio pearls, four
multicolored, five mallet-shapes, 166 baroques, thirty-nine
hinge-pearls, twenty pearlaceous masses, thirty-four clam (Venus)
pearls, fifteen abalone pearls, eleven conch pearls, and twelve oyster
(Ostrea) pearls. The collection was exhibited in two parts, the first
at the Paris Exposition of 1889, and the second at the Paris Exposition
of 1900. On each occasion a gold medal was awarded.
Count Batthyani's Pearl. A curious history is connected with a beautiful black pearl2
which was at one time in the possession of Count Louis Batthyani, the
premier of the revolutionary government of Hungary. The count was shot
in 1849, by the orders of a court-martial, and on the eve of his
execution he gave the pearl, which he had worn mounted on a scarf-pin,
to his trusty and faithful valet. The latter left it to his son, who,
when in straightened circumstances, sought to raise money upon the
pearl. The pawnbroker of the small town was distrustful of its value
and took it to Budapest for appraisal. There the suspicions of the
authorities were aroused, an investigation was ordered, and it was
finally discovered that the pearl had been stolen one hundred and fifty
years before from the English crown. The English government redeemed it
for the sum of £2500 ($12,500). How it came into the possession of
Count Batthyani is a mystery ; probably he purchased it from some
antiquarian.
In
1900 there was shown· in Paris one of the most important black pearls
of any time, a pear-shaped pearl of forty-nine grains, of a most
wonderful black color with a green sheen, as perfectly formed as though
it had been turned out of a lathe ; it did not terminate in a point at
the small end, but was slightly flattened. It was so beautiful an
object that it almost seemed it should never be drilled for
1 Taunton, "Australind," London, 1900, p. 231. * Austrian Court Journal, 1899.
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