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Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise

Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
     
     
 
222 The Turquoise.
 
 

 
 
It is doubtful whether the true Turquoise was known to the Ancients; but in the Middle Ages it was well known and highly valued, and few stones had such wonderful gifts and virtues attributed to them as this had. Yet to realise these advantages it was a necessary condition that the stone should have been received as a gift. Even to this day, in Russia, there is a proverb, "That a Turquoise given by a loving hand carries with it happiness and good fortune ;" and another, " That the colour of a Turquoise pales when the well-being of the giver is in danger."
The Shah of Persia has long been credited with the possession of the finest Turquoises in existence, for Nis-hapur, in Khorassan, the locality from whence the most precious of these stones is obtained, is within his dominions ; and it was said that the best Turquoise was invariably picked out and retained by him, whilst the poorer specimens only were permitted to go into the market
The Orientals cut texts from the Koran on Turquoise and fill in the characters with gold. There are some very good specimens of engraved mineral Turquoise, Nicols speaks of one possessed by the Duke of Etruria, which was the size of a hazel-nut, and had the image of Julius Caesar engraved on it. There are two in the collection of the Duke of Orleans, on one of which is engraved an image of Diana, and on the other that of the Empress Faustina. A jeweller in Moscow at one time possessed a Turquoise two inches long, cut in the shape of a heart, and said to have belonged previously to Shah Nadir, who wore it as an amulet. A verse from the Koran is inscribed upon it in gold, and .£780 was the price asked for it.
Discoveries in the land of Midian have shewn that three Turquoise mines exist there ; the northernmost, at Aynuneh already worked, the southernmost, near Ziba
 
 

 
     
Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise
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