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Pearls have always been valued for their beauty and rarity. Unlike other gemstones, they do not require any intervention such as cutting or polishing to become a real gem. The history of their hunting goes back thousands of years. Pearls were so sought after that they traveled trade routes around the world from time immemorial. The desire to own pearls has led to attempts to imitate them since the days of ancient Rome. It was only the introduction of industrial pearl cultivation by Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century that led to their general popularization and pearl jewelry became more affordable.
So let's see how pearls became a symbol of unattainability around the world.
Pearls and pearl jewelry in the oldest period
Today it is no longer possible to determine when pearls began to be used as part of jewelry for the first time - due to their organic origin, they disintegrate over time. However, the first necklaces appeared 135,000 - 40,000 years BC. and were made from beads and shells. Shells of marine origin and their products have been found deep inland, suggesting that they were traded in these early days. However, it is impossible to say when the pearl inside the shell acquired its value, but it seems that around 5300 B.C. there was a shift from shells to pearls in jewelry production in the Persian Gulf region. This is also evidenced by the discovery of pierced pearls in graves in this area, dating from this period. Although the Red Sea has always been a source of natural pearls, pearls are not known to have been used for jewelry in ancient Egypt, and no exceptional value appears to have been attached to them until the Ptolemaic period (323 - 30 BC). The Egyptians preferred jewelry made of gold combined with colorful gems and faience (ceramics), which contrasted well with the bright linen clothing worn in Egypt.
The first record of trade in pearls dates back to the 1st millennium BC. in the Persian Gulf region. The pearl was prized as a gemstone in Mesopotamia and the Persian Empire. Examples of jewelry in a combination of gold and pearls can be found during the reign of the Achaemenids in Iran, when pearl necklaces with many rows, interspersed with richly decorated gold elements, were created. Pearls were worn by members of the upper class as a symbol of their status.
In ancient Greece, pearls were used in jewelry. Although no specific finds have been preserved, it can be concluded from the paintings on vases from that time that pearls were worn in necklaces in Greece as well. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus describes the formation of pearls in his work "On Stones", however, he refers to them as "margarites" - a term that was used for them in Greek and also in Latin. Pearl jewelry appears in the late Hellenic period, after Alexander the Great controlled the territory as far as the Indian Punjab. In 331 B.C. he conquered the Persian Achaemenid Empire, where, as we already know, pearls were highly valued and now reached the Greek settlers. One of the most beautiful examples is a decorative pin found in the temple of the goddess Aphrodite in Cyprus: two pearls are attached to the top of the brooch, surrounded by 4 goats (symbol of fertility), lotus flowers (symbol of beauty) and doves (symbol of purity). All these symbols were dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, and the wearing of pearls would later become a sign of all these qualities.
Obsession with pearl jewelry during the Roman Empire
In the 2nd c. B.C. the influence of the Roman Empire spread over most of the Mediterranean coast. Archaeological findings and written sources show the incredible passion of the Romans for natural pearls, which they obtained probably from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Roman traders moved as far as present-day India, where trade and pearl fishing flourished at the time. The Greek geographer and historian Strabo, living in Rome during the reign of Emperor Augustus, describes in his work Geographica trade in pearls and the incredible quantities that were imported to Rome from the Persian Gulf and India.
In the later period of the Roman Republic, the ostentatious display of wealth was associated with vanity - a trait that went against the moral standards of the Republic. In 215 B.C. a law limiting the maximum weight of gold in jewelry was even introduced, which, of course, met with great resistance from the people, and the law had to be repealed in 93 BC. canceled because it could not be enforced. Yet temperance and modesty were expected of citizens of the republic: opulence was seen as a lack of discipline, a quality more suited to the Orient than to Rome. Jewelery from this period shows that pearls were used as a decorative element rather than the main material of the jewellery. With the rise of the Roman Empire, republican traditions were suppressed. Pliny the Elder, who lived in Pompeii, in his famous work Naturalis historia, written just before he perished in the eruption of Vesuvius, he complained about the rich. It bothered him that at that time the wearing of jewelry became widespread in society and pearls came into fashion. Pearls were now considered attractive and highly fashionable, the most valuable and expensive of gems. Pliny the Terrible writes that "women spend more money on pearl earrings in their ears than on any other part of their person". Here he expresses his disgust at the Roman ladies who consider pearls to be exclusive mainly because of the dangerous circumstances from which they are obtained, as fishermen risked their lives to hunt for them. Pliny also accused Lollia Paulina, a wealthy Roman noblewoman and later lover of the emperor Caligula, of coming too expensively dressed to the engagement banquet, "covered with emeralds and pearls entwined alternately on her head, hair, ears, neck, and fingers, to the total value of 40,000,000 sesterces". Many writers of the time express indignation at people flaunting their wealth, women wearing pearl earrings so large that they cost more than a large estate. It is said that Queen Cleopatra of Egypt had one of the largest pearls she owned dissolved in vinegar so she could drink it to prove to Mark Antony that she could spend 10,000,000 sesterces on a single banquet. The pearl was half of a pair of pearls - the other of which was said to have been split in half and given as a gift to the goddess Venus in the Roman Pantheon.
The Romans were also very fond of colored precious stones, especially emeralds, which were imported from Egypt, and the combination of emeralds and pearls was considered one of the most fashionable. The historian Suetonius describes Julius Caesar's disappointment when he succeeded in conquering Britain and found that the pearls there were all river freshwater pearls that would never reach the size and luster that would satisfy Roman demands.
Many samples of jeweler's work have been preserved from Roman times, not only in the form of real jewelry, but also depicted on frescoes and mosaics in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Boscoreale - cities destroyed by the eruption of the volcano in 79 AD Realistic depictions in mummy portraits from Fayyum in Egypt and reliefs in Palmyra, present-day Syria, clearly show how important jewelry was in Roman society.
Tradition and meaning of pearl jewelry in Byzantium
There were prosperous goldsmith centers in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, in Constantinople, Antioch, Palmyra and Alexandria. Greek goldsmiths were especially valued in Rome for their artistic and technical skills, and their reputation and influence continued for many centuries to come. After Constantine the Great and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which guaranteed religious freedom within the Empire, there was a great boom in jewelry with a Christian religious theme, and in the 5th century the Christian cross was considered a fashionable motif.
During the Byzantine period, Eastern art had a direct influence on the appearance of jewelry, as jewelry design traveled along with gem traders. Rings set with stones and pearls, often again in the shape of lotus flowers, the symbol of the Greco-Roman goddess Aphrodite, were very popular.
Byzantine jewelry was opulent and intricately constructed. An example would be the massive necklaces from Egypt, made of large gold perforated components, known as opus inerassile. The number of components in such necklaces was counted in hundreds. Emeralds continued to enjoy great popularity, but sapphires combined with pearls, especially those from the Persian Gulf region for their size and beauty, began to come into vogue. Gemstones and pearls in jewelry from the Byzantine period were so highly valued that they were removed from their original setting and reused in jewelry making in the Middle Ages.
Emperor Justinian the Great was looking for a way to tightly regulate the wearing and production of jewelry. In Justinian's Code he stipulated that pearls, emeralds and sapphires should be reserved only for the sovereign. However, the law contained exceptions, so it is difficult to assess how it worked in practice. Depictions of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna show the imperial couple richly bejeweled, especially pearls, which contrasts sharply with depictions of other dignitaries who are not wearing jewelry. The empress wears a pearl collar with large pearl pendants and a headdress from which long strings of pearls fall. Similar, though less extravagant, headdresses can be seen in portraits of Byzantine nobles, where pearls symbolize holiness. The crowns of Byzantine monarchs are testimony to the enduring attractiveness of pearls as a symbol of power.
The Byzantine Empire had very busy trade relations with the nomadic tribes of early medieval Europe, who spread luxury goods far north in Europe to Scandinavia and west to the Frankish kingdoms. The foundation was thus laid for the jewelry tradition of medieval Europe, where opulent jewelry work was, of course, reserved primarily for liturgical objects.
Next time we will look at the history of pearl jewelry in the Middle Ages. And in the meantime, let us know in the comments whether you would like it if jewelry were approached with the same enthusiasm as in ancient Rome?
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