extensive
treasures of Pearls, collected in the course of ages, and surpassing in
magnificence anything likely to have reached the hands of collectors in
the west of Europe. Yet no vestige of their wealth has come down to us.
It
would seem that black Pearls were not regarded as objects of value by
the ancients. At any rate, we have not met with any mention of them by
mediaeval writers. Even thirty years ago they were but little esteemed.
A perfect round black Pearl weighing eight grains was bought for £4, for which at the present day £100 would
be gladly given. The great increase in value of these Pearls dates from
the time of the Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III., who set the
fashion of wearing black in preference to white Pearls. The Empress
possessed a famous necklace, consisting of a row of matchless black
Pearls, for which the large sum of .£4000 was obtained when it was sold
at Messrs. Christie's, after the overthrow of the Imperial dynasty. The
Pearl forming the snap was subsequently sold at Christie's to the
Marquis of Bath for 1000 guineas, to form the centre of a bracelet. The
demand then began to be greater than the supply, and the market price
has continued to rise until the present time.
Another instance may be given of the low esteem in which the black Pearl was held abroad,
