Mother Of Pearl Sterling Silver Jewelry Part I Historical Value

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England,jewelry and sculptures inlaid with Mother of Pearl
Europeans gave Mother of Pearl its name. Howeverfrom as far away as the Pacific Rim.
the beauty of Mother of Pearl, associated birthstoneStill to this day the descendants of the Toltecs, the
of June, has been used in the decoration of preciousYaqui Indians of Mexico immortalized in the shamanic
jewels and ornaments as far back as 3000 yearstales of Carlos Castaneda, wear a necklace called the
before the birth of Christ.Hopoorosim. The necklace is made of Mother of Pearl
Mother Of Pearl In Mesopotamiaand is believed to provide the wearer with protection
In the 1920s, a series of tombs were excavated tofrom evil.
the east of the site of Babylon in the Middle East.In Americas southwest of today, Navajo, Pueblo, and
The tombs were of Sumerian royalty from ancientHopi native American silversmiths, trained in age old
Mesopotamia and yielded a treasure trove oflapidary techniques fuse the ancient into
amulets, rings and necklaces made of gold, silver,contemporary designs using sterling silver, gold, lapis
ivory, amethyst, carnelian, lapis and otherlazuli, pearl, fire opal, coral and of course Mother of
semi-precious gemstones. However, it was thePearl.
unearthing of several beautiful wooden ornamentsMother Of Pearl In The Pacific
and musical instruments inlaid with Mother of Pearl,By the 1500s Europes growing demand for Mother of
that illustrated just how sophisticated this ancientPearl used in gold and silver rings, necklaces, brooches
culture actually was.and buttons had all but depleted the supplies of
The Silver lyre of Ur, found in one of the graves inMother of Pearl in the Persian Gulf. However the
the Royal Cemetery, dates back to between 2600nobility of Europe were already taken with a new
and 2400 B.C. The Silver lyre, ancestor to thespecies of pearl producing oyster heralding from the
modern harp, was found in the Great Death PitPacific: Pinctada Margaritifera, renowned for its
accompanied by 70 men and women who had beenspectacular grey to black color and large size it
buried with their Queen. Miraculously well persevered,surpassed the beauty of any of its counterparts
the lyre was entirely covered in sheet silver and inlaidfound in the Persian Gulf. And with the opening of
with Mother of Pearl. The silver cows headnew trade routes throughout the world, particularly
decorating the front has inlaid eyes of shell and lapisto Asia, the Pacific witnessed a rush of European
lazuli, and the edges, borders and plaques of thetraders and explorers eager to profit from its wealth
sound box are inlaid with Mother of Pearl. Suchof Mother of Pearl.
instruments were important parts of rituals in theIn 1568 the Solomon Islands, known as The Pearl of
royal courts and temples. There are morethe Pacific, were discovered by the Spanish explorer,
representations of lyre players inlaid in Mother ofAlvaro de Mendana. On discovering the Islands rich
Pearl on the infamous Standard of Ur, a wooden boxbounty of gold and Mother of Pearl he gave the
believed to recount the story of Ur.archipelago its current name, believing that he had
The method the Sumerian artisans used to decoratefound the mythical source of King Solomons mines.
wooden objects was to cut a design from the shell,However, it was in fact the Austronesians, a Neolithic
cut the same form out of the wooden setting, andpeople from South East Asia, who had first settled
to fill the spaces and setting of the engraving withthe Solomon Islands more than 4000 years prior to
bitumen, which after acting as glue hardened formingMendanas arrival. Evidence of their great wealth of
the background. Animal scenes, inlayed with MotherMother of Pearl can be seen in the inlay appearing in
of Pearl shell and colored gemstones such as lapis ormany of their tribal shields and statues of gods and
carnelian, were particularly popular motifs used in suchspirits.
decoration. This method of inlay was popularFrom Tahiti to Bora Bora the Polynesian archipelago
throughout Asia and Asia Minor up to the time of thestretches out to the size of Western Europe. The
Ottoman Empire, and although refined the sameIslands were supposedly discovered by the European
method is still practiced by the artisans of TurkeyMagellan, and again in 1595 by Mendana. However,
and Egypt today.long before their arrival Mother of Pearl and pearl had
Mother Of Pearl In Asiaalready attained a god-like status.
In Asia, centuries before the birth of Christ, theIn Polynesian lore, the iridescence of Mother of Pearl
Chinese learned that beads or tiny figures of deitiesis attributed to the spirits of coral and sand, Okana
slipped between the soft mantle and the shell of aand Uaro, who as legend has it adorned the Tahitian
living mollusk soon became coated with Mother ofoysters in glistening cloaks covered in all the colors of
Pearl. These beads and carvings were then taken tothe fish of the ocean. It is also said that Oro, the
the temples and offered to the gods in the hopePolynesian god of peace and fertility, came down to
that they would bestow good luck upon the donor.earth and offered a special pearl called Te Ufi, the
Mother of Pearl, like jade, soon held a position of highblack pearl, to the beautiful princess of Bora Bora as
status in Chinese society and became interlinked witha sign of his love. But by the middle of the 1800s
stories of gods and mythical creatures.with Europes lust for Mother of Pearl the Pacific
One such story is the tale told in the Tao classic TheIslands had been practically stripped bear of its
History of The Great Light, written by Huai Nan Tzuoysters, and with its disappearance the stories
during the Han dynasty at the beginning of the firstpassed into legend.
millennia A.D. In the book there are eight stories ofHowever, in 1880 France gained control of Tahiti,
eight mortals who, through their good deeds, werenow called French Polynesia, and actions were taken
rewarded with everlasting life. The eighth of theseto restrict the plundering of the seabed. Other
stories tells the tale of Ho Hsien Ku, who wascountries followed suite and by the 1900s, with the
instructed in a vision that if she ate Mother of Pearlspread of western civilization, restrictions were
she would gradually become immortal. She did as theimposed on the fishing industry throughout the
vision instructed, living in the mountains and eventuallyPacific, and the world had to look elsewhere in their
dispensing with mortal food. Ho Hsien Ku started tosearch for Mother of Pearl.
float from peak to peak becoming more and moreEuropean exploration of the Pacific Islands in search
ethereal, finally attaining her quest she was renamedof Mother of Pearl continued, and in the 1920s it was
The Immortal Maiden symbolized in the Taodiscovered for the last time on a remote Island of
philosophy by the lotus flower.the New Hebrides. But when explorers Sperry and
During the Confuciusan Tang dynasty, as BuddhismEvans stumbled upon the use of Mother of Pearl, it
spread to Korea and Japan, China absorbed andwas far from what they expected. ?In the opposite
unified a vast territory that had formerly beencorner of the central hut a line of mummies were
divided into North and South China. The Tangplaced like a barricade?? ??Bushy mops of hair still
Dynasty, lasting from 600 A.D. to 900 A.D., was aclung to the heads, and their faces wore masks of
period of widespread prosperity and trade thatclay, with huge eyes of Mother of Pearl that shone
stretched from inner Asia to the archipelagos ofthrough the gloom staring at us with an uncanny
South East Asia. With the promise of great wealth,effect.? In fact the mummies weren't ancestral
many mariners and merchants from all over themembers of the tribe, but were the bodies of a rival
Pacific were attracted to China, bringing with themtribe of cannibals!
precious cargos of Pearls, Mother of Pearl and manyIn Americas 1900s, where Mother of Pearl had been
other precious and semi-precious gemstones.previously used as an inlay in furniture, it now found a
In ancient China Mother of Pearl, apart from findingnew use in fashion as buttons. Iowa became the
its way into rings and necklaces, was used incenter of the trade, shipping billions of iridescent
profusion as a decorative inlay in ornaments such asfasteners until World War II, when newly invented
vanity mirrors and brushes, and in later centuriesplastics undercut the prices of Mother of Pearl
would feature heavily as an inlay in Chinese andbuttons, all but driving them out of the market. The
Korean furniture. Interestingly, the Chinese also usedmajority of Americas Mother of Pearl was sourced
Mother of Pearl in medicine, prescribing it for over afrom the Gulf of Californias Abalone oysters. But
thousand years as an aid to reduce heart palpitations,these sources, like others throughout the world,
dizziness, and high blood pressure.were almost depleted and it wasn't until the
Mother Of Pearl In Mesoamericadiscovery of new-cultured farming techniques in
In 800 A.D. Mesoamerica there existed an ancientJapan that the world's Mother of Pearl producing
civilization called the Toltecs. Ancestors to theoysters saw a return in numbers.
Aztecs, they were feared and revered respectivelyCopyright ? SilverShake Corporation. All Rights
for their military prowess and artistic culture. TheReserved.
Toltec had widespread influences from the MayanThis article was written for the Silvershake website,
populations in Guatemala to the Anasazi Indians inan online retailer of sterling silver jewelry at wholesale
Arizona. Archeological excavations as far inland asprices. See 1000's of mother of pearl silver jewelry
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