pearls-msg – 3/7/20
Period pearls. Harvesting. Uses in jewelry and other places.
NOTE: See also the files: jewelry-msg, cosmetics-msg, beads-msg, beadwork-msg, coronets-msg, gem-sources-msg.
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From: Eric & Lissa McCollum <ericmc at primenet.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Black pearls...
Date: 9 Jan 1997 17:05:02 -0700
Organization: Sun Quality Consultantd
Jeff Suzuki wrote:
> BlackCat (blackcat at blueneptune.com) wrote:
> : Does anyone know where in Renaissance Europe produced signifigant
> : amounts of pearls (nobody say "the ocean"...)? Especially black pearls?
> : Prices for pearls (7mm black if someone has real detailed info)?
> : Thanks in advance
> : Ld.Morrison
>
> I don't know about black pearls; however, before the 20th century, one
> of the major exports of several of the Gulf States was pearls.
> Pollution (notably Saddam Hussein's act of international vandalism)
> has severely impacted this production, however.
>
> Jeffs
I just picked up a book entitled "The Book of The Pearl: The History,
Art, Science and Industry of the Queen of Gems" by Geroge Frederick
Kunz and Charles Hugh Stevenson, written in 1908, republished in 1993.
I haven't read it all the way through, but it seems to contain some
of the info you are interested in. You may want to look it up. I got
my copy at Borders Bookstore.
Gwendolen Wold
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 14:53:32 -0500
From: Margritte <margritt at mindspring.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: "Majistery of Pearl"
I've been reading through my newly-acquired copies of "A Queen's Delight"
and came across the following "recipe":
To make a true Majistery of Pearl.
Dissolve two or three ounces of fine seed Pearl in distilled Vinegar, &
when it is perfectly dissolved, and all taken up, pour the Vinegar into a
clean glass bason; then drop some few drops of Oyl of Tartar upon it, & it
will cast down the Pearl into fine Powder, then pour the Vinegar clean off
softly, then put to the Pearl clear Conduit or Spring water, pour that off,
and do so often untill the taste of the Vinegar and Tartar be clean gone,
then dry the powder of Pearl upon warm embers, and keep it for your use.
This is toward the back of the book, in a section entitled "Choice Secrets
made known", not in the food sections.
- What exactly is a Majistery? What was the pearl dust used for?
- What is oil of Tartar?
- Does anyone know what chemical reaction is taking place here? What is it
about the oil of tartar that makes the pearl dust precipitate back out of
the vinegar solution? Is it really still pearl dust at this point, or
something entirely different?
Looking forward to using those leftover seed pearls from my last embroidery
project :-)
Thanks for the help.
-Margritte
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 19:01:28 -0600
From: theodelinda at webtv.net (linda webb)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: "Majistery of Pearl"
The only part of this problem that I can address is how the vinegar
dissolves the powdered pearls--pearls are calcium carbonate, and like
limestone and calcite, and a lot of other minerals that contain calcium,
and like bones, they will dissolve in fairly weak acids. The weaker the
acid, the longer they take to dissolve--so grinding them up helps the
process of dissolution.
I can't help with any of the other points you brought out--I sure hope
someone else out there is a better chemist than I, and can enlighten us,
as now I'm dying to know, too!
Theo
From: Decker, Terry D. [SMTP:TerryD at Health.State.OK.US]
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 1998 3:30 PM
To: 'sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG'
Subject: RE: SC - FW: "Majistery of Pearl"
>- What is oil of Tartar?
>-Margritte
Tartar in this case is probably potassium bitartrate or cream of tartar.
It is used in baking powder, tinning metals, and laxatives. Oil of
tartar is likely cream of tartar dissolved in an oil base.
Bear
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 09:50:51 -0500
From: caroline at netusa1.net (mystarwin/Moira)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: "Majistery of Pearl"
>>- What exactly is a Majistery? What was the pearl dust used for?
>I don't know what Majistery is, but if I had to guess, I would say this is
>some kind of cosmetic.
Hmmm... this sounds like what the ladies and gents used back then for a face
powder to effect that pale white pasty look..... I may be way off base here,
and will have to do a bit a looking, but I have a feeling that is what it
is.
<------------------------------------------------------------>
< mystarwin - Moira Breabadair - Cindy Mays >
From: Vesta <vesta at internetcds.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Amber LONG [and other lies the jewelry sellers tell you]
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 11:35:51 -0700
<snip of info on fake amber>
Oh. Yes. Since I'm on the subject of gemstones.....
Some other problem stones: Hematite, Jet and Pearls.
<snip of comments on Hematite and Jet>
PEARLS: *sigh* Pearls. A real dilemma. There are two kinds of pearl
oysters in the world: the saltwater kind and the freshwater kind.
Saltwater pearls are *terribly* expensive. Most, if not all, of what
you're going to see in an SCA booth is going to be freshwater pearls.
Now, of freshwater oysters, there are two subsets: pond oysters and
river oysters. River oysters give the "rice krispie" shaped pearls that
were so popular a few years ago.
Pond oysters, on the other hand, give potato-to-round shaped pearls,
which look very much like the pearls in period portraits. They come in
three natural colors: ivory/cream, peach, and mauve (a dusky purply
color). All white pearls are bleached -- there are *no* natural white
pearls. In addition, the silvery-grey pearls are dyed or irradiated --
probably irradiated. They may look like the Taihitain blacks, though
probably nobody on this newsgroup could afford the blacks....;)
Be very careful when buying pearls. Almost all of them will be cultured,
so many businesses don't keep the pearl nucleus inside the pearl very
long (fast turnaround means more $$). So they yank out pearls that have
only been inside an oyster for 6 mos. to a year. (Some pearlgrowers *do*
longer, but they're the ethical ones -- you'll pay more for them, too.)
This results in pearls with a *very* thin coating of nacre (that pretty
shiny stuff). In addition, after bleaching, some pearls have pitted
surfaces (unseen by the naked eye). The unethical will tumble those
pearls with wax to coat and smooth them.
So you end up with pearls that look mighty pretty but only last a year
before turning dull and flat. And if you've spent upteen million hours
sewing those pearls onto a gown, that's gonna piss you off....
All I can say is, ask the booth keeper who their supplier is (they may
not want to tell you, you may have to be insistent). I can personally
recommend (though I won't guarantee!) the quality of materials from
RioGrande, Olympia, Fire Mountain and Shipwreck. They are even-handed
companies who, when they make mistakes, do their best to correct them.
All have recalled products which were incorrectly advertised; all have
sent out replacement products for substandard materials. While the other
companies specialize in certain products, RioGrande has
*everything*.....
Vesta, climbing down off the soapbox
--
Domina Vesta Antonia Aurelia
An Tir -- Summits -- Cavernsgate
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 09:57:05 -0800 (PST)
From: H B <nn3_shay at yahoo.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: fastening pearls?
---Anna Troy <Anna.Troy at bibks.uu.se> wrote:
>I also have some baroque pearls. Now I know
> you fasten them with wire that has a small head but that's only on the
> front. How do I fasten the wire on the back after I've treaded it through
> the hole in the circlet. I can't solder it'cause that would damage the
> pearl and I would like to avoid glueing. I have some good pictures of
> medieval jewellery but none where I can see the back. Help!
>
> Anna de Byxe
Anna -- Yes, soldering the pins on with the pearls in place will
damage the pearls; the trick is, you solder on a pin (length of wire)
WITHOUT a head, long enough to pass completely through the pearl with
1/4 to 1/2 inch extra, and then slide the pearl on and trim the wire
to more like 1/8 inch (2-3mm) beyond the end. Peen a head on the pin
that will hold the pearl there -- like a rivet. Use wire as big as
will fit through your drill hole.
I don't know if glue was used in period or not, but I wouldn't be at
all surprised; it's used currently when fixing half-drilled pearls and
other gemstone beads to earring posts and such. Good luck!
Harriet
Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1999 17:23:33 -0500
From: Warren & Meredith Harmon <ravenleaf at juno.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: fastening pearls?
Also, you can make a flat fastening by threading the wire through the
hole in the circlet, then looping the wire in a few swirls flat against
the inside of the circlet. It may not be period, but it works. (I glue
mine down so I don't get stabbed.) I usually use the end of the wire to
make some decorative swirls at the fastening point - for instance, making
a small Celtic knot. I figure, it's a thick thread, so sometimes I use
it as one - including using wire to embroider.
-Caro
Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 18:25:44 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Cream of Tartar
Magistery is a term taken from alchemy. It may describe the residue of a
percipitation, refer to a concentrated essence, or be a transmuting agent
like the philospher's stone. The OED records the first recorded appearance
of magistery of pearl in 1602 in F. Hering's Anatomyes. Magistery alone
appears as early as 1566.
Magistery of pearl might be considered to be all three, but the OED places
it as percipitate of dissolved pearl. I believe the percipitate will be
calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), but I'd recommend talking to someone who is a
little more current on chemistry. The last time I worked out chemical
changes was 30 years ago.
For the benefit of anyone who wishes to work out the chemical reactions, the
pearl is mostly calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The distilled vinegar is almost
pure acetic acid (CH3COOH). Oil of tartar is a supersaturated solution of
potassium carbonate (K2CO3), probably dissolved in water (H2O).
I did not find any information about the uses for magistery of pearl. I
suspect the use is as a medicine or a cosmetic.
I regret to say, I failed to check out cream of tartar while at the State
Library.
Bear
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 08:12:33 -0400
From: Becky Needham <betony at infinet.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: pearls
> Were pearls used to decorate clothes in the Middle Ages? If so, does anybody
> know if there were typical ways of how they were used? Is there something
> important to know? I would like to know because I'm going to get real pearls
> very cheap (with minor disperfections) and I'd like to decorate a gown with
> them.
>
> Elonwen
A lot of your question depends on when you are talking about and where
you are talking about. River pearls were used most of the time in
Europe and the size was seed to rice. This was until more Arabic contact
- I'm thinking of the gorgeous pearls of Bahrain. They were used pretty
much the same then as now - alone or with something else in strategic
places or following a desgin. "A Pictorial History of Embroidery" by
Marie Schuette and Sigrid Mu"ller-Christensen gives excellent examples
of their use through the ages, what they were used on, and how.
Bet
Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 16:03:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at tulgey.browser.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: pearls
Russian costuming appears to have used pearls extensively, both in trim
patterns, on clothing and in all over patterns on clothing and women's
headgear. Towo experts on Russian clothing, I think in the SCA are Mordak
Timofei'evich Rostovskogo and Predslava Vydrina. They can both be cntacted
throught Slavic Interest Group pages,
http://vms.www.uwplatt.edu/~goldschp/slavic.html
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 16:56:00 -0500
From: Scot and Domino Eddy <domino7 at texas.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: pearls
The Byzantines used pearls quite a bit on their clothing. I've seen it on
everything; shoes, hats, gloves, Dalmatics (overtunics), cloaks, and jewelry.
Mostly it appears on Imperial clothing, but some in the Imperial entourage have
it as well.
Boots - there is a picture of one of the Emperors wearing red boots with double
rows of pearls running from the toe up the front and around back.
Hosen - Some of the eikons have a strip of trim(?) running up the front of the
hosen with what appear to be pearls spaced out along the length.
Dalmatic - Rows of pearls divide different types of materials on the dalmatic.
Look at some of the people inthe background of eikons and mosaics and you'll see
all kinds of decorations. Most of them are rimmed with pearls.
Belts - Pearls used here too on the edges.
Superhumeral - Theodora (in the Revenna mosaic) has a jeweled and pearled collar
which looks absolutely sumptuous.
Hat - Reserved for the Emperor and Empress, 3 strings of pearls desended from
the hat right above the ears. The hat looks like a Burgundian chaperon without
the liripipe and dagging. (i.e. just a stuffed roll of fabric.
Earrings - Used a lot here. Especially with dangly earrings.
Pearling can take a lot of time so it's best to do it once. "A stitch in time
saves nine." Uses tough thread and use 2 - 3 strands. One strand to string it
and tack it in place every 4 - 5 pearls and the 2nd strand to tack down between
each pearl to keep it in place, and the 3rd strand to runn striaght thru to
straighten it up.
With single pearls do one pearl and cut the string. Re-knot and do the next one.
That way if on strand breaks it won't undo them all.
Elonwen ap David wrote:
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 21:40:48 -0700
From: Curtis & Mary <ladymari at cybertrails.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: pearls
Elonwen ap David wrote:
> Were pearls used to decorate clothes in the Middle Ages? If so, does anybody
> know if there were typical ways of how they were used? Is there something
> important to know? I would like to know because I'm going to get real pearls
> very cheap (with minor disperfections) and I'd like to decorate a gown with
> them.
Pearls were very popular in the Rennasaince and Elizabethan periods...I
do a lot of art and have tons of art books with wonderfully exact and
detailed portraits from these times, especially Italian....Try looking
into the art history section of a large library and look at the
paintings for ideas. I'm not sure of MA in particular, but they may
well have been used then too.
Mairi, Atenveldt
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 18:19:04 -0500
From: Warren & Meredith Harmon <silveroak at juno.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Nice Book - Pearls
I just got a cool book at a secondhand store - it's called "Pearls:
Ornament and Obsession", by Kristin Joyce and Shellei Addison. ISBN
0-671-75928-0. This book is *fabulous*!!! Most of the pics are in color (and the black-and-whites are to show the contrast on the piece), and shows the history of the pearl through most every culture, through the ages. Of course, most of the pictures / icons / ornaments fall into our time period of study! ;-)
I haven't had much time to peruse the written portion, but in skimming,
it looks pretty good. Mostly, I got it for the pictures!
The original tag said $65...I got it for $13.
-Caro
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 23:46:47 -0500
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - semi-precious stones and pearls
At 12:38 AM -0500 6/13/00, Stefan li Rous wrote:
>Is it possible to get second-grade, non-jewel grade precious
>stones that would work fine for this? Or is there even
>such a thing?
I missed the original message, but I assume you are trying to get
gemstones for culinary purposes--perhaps for Maistre Chiquart's
chicken soup or something similar.
1. "Precious stones" is a technical term--diamond, ruby, saphire,
emerald, are the usual ones on the list. I have a vague impression
that some people include pearls, which aren't really stones at all.
2. Generally speaking, junk grade precious and semiprecious stones
are available and cheap--meaning dollars an ounce or even dollars a
pound. Typically that means opaque stones of uneven color, when the
valuable ones are clear and pure of color. Many semiprecious stones,
such as lapis and malachite, are available at that sort of price in
qualities that are good enough to be worth cutting.
Commercial grade pearls are more than that, but still cheap compared
to what you buy in a jewelery store.
The Cleopatra story is that she is supposed to have dissolved a very
valuable pearl in wine. I gather it doesn't work, unless the wine is
pretty close to vinegar, and even then slowly--probably days not
minutes according to my lady wife, who dissolved a lot of calcium
carbonate in strong vinegar in an earlier stage of her life.
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 02:59:41 EDTFrom: CBlackwill at aol.comSubject: Re: SC - semi-precious stones and pearls stefan at texas.net writes:> If you do, I'd love to hear how it worked out. And when you think> you've figured out what the "Oyl of Tartar" is please let me know.I believe this is the liquid form of cream of tartar (i.e. the residue left around the barrel rim during wine fermentation). It is an acidic ingredient, and so sounds appropriate for the recipe. I may be wrong.Balthazar of Blackmoor
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 10:06:44 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - semi-precious stones and pearls
Well, cream of tartar is tartaric acid, which can be found as crystals on wine
barrels. Maybe oyl of tartar is a liquid form either before it crysalizez or made by admixing the tartaric acid into oil or alcohol or water?
My Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 8th edition says:
tartaric acid [dihydroxysuccinic acid]
properties: Colorless, transparent crystals, or white, fine to granular,
crystalline powder: has 2 asymetric carbon atoms and three known optical isomers:
odorless: acid taste, stable in air. Soluable in water, alcohol and ether.
[snip on boring details]
uses: chemicals [cream of tartar, tartar emetic, acetaldehyde]; sequestrant;
tanning; effervescent beverages; baking powder; fruit esters; ceramics;
galvano-plastics; photography; textile industry; silvering mirrors; coloring metals
Sequestrant means that it will remove certain classes of chemical from suspension in a liquid [iirc] so perhaps the tartaric acid crystals added to the pearl/vinegar solution will help precipitate out the pearl and then you use either water or alcohol to dissolve the tartaric acid and rinse it out of the pearl solids left from dissolution in vinegar?
My suggestion-perhaps crunch up some of the pearls and dissolve the in vinegar,
then shoot in some cream of tartar, shake well and filter through several layers of filter paper. Take the resulting glop and mix into plain water, let stand for a few hours or days to see if there is a fine white slime deposited on the bottom of the glass and carefully pour of the water, add water again, repeat and then try drying the slime and sniff to see if it has a smell different from the original seed pearls, and that can easily be powdered to a cornstarch consistancy that has a slight luster.
margali
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 10:26:31 -0400
From: "Hupman, Laurie" <LHupman at kenyon.com>
Subject: RE: SC - semi-precious stones and pearls
From "Natural Magick" (1584)
"How to Extract Oil of Tartar."
Burn the Tartar, and reduce it into a Salt, as I have shown before. Then
lay it on a Marble in a moist place, and in a few days it will turn to Oil,
and run down into a dish, which you must set underneath to receive it. Thus
you may easily make it into Salt. Beat the Tartar into powder, and mix an
equal quantity of Saltpeter with it. When they are mixed in an Iron Mortar,
set them in the fire, until they are quite burned. Grind the remaining
Foeces, and dissolve them in a Lye. Strain it, and let the Lye evaporate
away. The Salt will settle to the bottom. Then boil some Eggs hard. Take
out the yolks, and fill up their place with Salt, and in a little time it
will dissolve into Oil.
Rose :)
From: Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Re: dissolved pearls
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 12:07:50 +1000
I have been doing a wee bit of quick searching on the whole pearls in
wine thang.
The following link is to an interesting page which points out that
household vinegar dissolves pearls better than pure acetic acid. .
http://www.apaclassics.org/AnnualMeeting/99mtg/abstracts/jonesp.html
and this one actually goes briefly into the science of it...
http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/cleopatra/
cabanel.html
It seems that good wine won't do the job, but bad wine will! ;)
Kiriel
More links on this:
http://www.mun.ca/sgs/science/nov2483.html
http://146.139.100.40/webpages/askasci/chem00/chem00595.htm
From: "Andrea Scott" <ascott at mail.chem.tamu.edu>
To: "Sca-Cooks \(E-mail\)" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 10:00:41 -0500
Subject: [Sca-cooks] A 210 carat pearl (should) dissolve in a glass of
wine - long
Greetings to the list!
I usually lurk, as I have much to learn, but someone else usually asks my questions before I can. However, I mentioned the discussion on dissolving pearls to my husband, who like a good engineer, decided to figure out if one could dissolve a pearl in a drinkable glass of wine. Below are his findings.
_____________________________________________________________________
I think that a 210 carat pearl (30 mm in diameter) could be dissolved in
wine. Cleopatra might have been able to do it.
The long explanation, sources at the end:
Natural pearls are made up of aragonite crystals (86%) and conchiolin
protein (10%) arranged in radial and concentric layers, with 2 to 4 %
water. [1][2]
Aragonite is chemically calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which has a molecular
weight of 100.9 g/mol [3]
The pH of wine is about 3 to 3.6. pH is (generally) how acidic things
are.[4]
This website shows the solubility of CaCO3 as a function of pH. In a liquid having a pH of 4,molar solubility of CaCO3 is 1.7 mol/liter. That means that an acid having a pH of 4 could dissolve 1.7 moles of CaCO3 per liter of the acid. (a pH of4 is less acidic than pH of wine at 3, so a liquid of pH 3 could dissolve_more_). [5]
A mole is a given number (Avogadro's number) of something. We can convert from moles to mass by multiplying by the molecular weight of something. To convert 1.7 mol/liter to grams per liter we multiply by the molecular weight of CaCO3:
1.7 mol/L * 100.9 g/mol = 171.53 g/L
So this one liter of acid (wine) at pH of 4 could dissolve 171.53 grams ofCaCO3. But one liter is a lot...250mL is maybe more realistic. 250mL is 25%of 1L, and 25% of 171.53 grams is about 42 grams. So we can dissolve a 42gram pearl in 250mL of this pH 4 wine.
How big is a 42 gram pearl? 1 gram = 5 carats, so this pearl is 42 * 5 =
210 carats!
Knowing the density of pearls is about 2.6 to 2.8 g/cm^3, we can figure
out its volume: [6]
(42 g) / (2.7 g/cm^3) = 15.5 cm^3
The volume of sphere is 4/3 * pi * radius^3. [7]
Solving for radius with a volume of 15.5 cm^3 gives us
radius = 1.54 cm -- or a
30 mm diameter pearl!
This account [8] asserts that it was wine vinegar, and not wine that was
used. They also believe it was possible to dissolve the pearl.
This explanation assumes simple chemistry, and does not take into account temperature, speed of dissolution, or many other things. Perhaps the best way to do this is to try dissolving a pearl in some wine!
--Diego
[1] http://www.voguegioiello.net/06per/perle/10ana/eindex.asp
[2] http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/wisc/Lect17.html
[3] http://webmineral.com/data/Aragonite.shtml
[4] http://eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/wine/index.ssf?DEF_ID=2294&;ISWINE=T
[5] http://www.chem.usu.edu/faculty/sbialkow/Classes/3600/Alpha/alpha3.html
[6] http://www.voguegioiello.net/06per/perle/10ana/eindex.asp
[7] http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Sphere.html
[8] http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~snlrc/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/cleopatra/
cabanel.html
Disclaimers: I am not a chemist. Don't try this at home. Don't drink
acid.
_________________________________________________________________________
Abigail Pinel
(Andi Scott)
Shire of the Shadowlands
Ansteorra (College Station, Texas)
From: "LdySatine" <LadySatineDeLaCourcel at hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Pearls in Europe
Date: 24 May 2005 00:09:49 -0700
In Addition to the following Books I already have....The Book of the
Pearl, Pearls Beyond Price,The Scottish pearl in its world Context,
Pearls, by sylvia Malaguzzi (full of pics of period Pieces)and Pearls a
Natural History (goes with the travelling Pearl exhibit ini wisconsin
right now) .... does anyone know of any other books about pearls and
Pearling in Europe, Midde East and The Far east in Period????
The above mentioned books are great however I am looking for evem more
details on when's and where's for pearling in England, France, Denmark,
Germany(ia) Russia etc....
LdySatine
From the FB "SCA Library of Alexandria" group:
Christine Wallrich
5/26/15 9:23am
In researching Medieval beading practices, I have found several references to the process of making fake "pearls". The reference mentioned eggs and fish scales. I have seen this "recipe" mentioned several times and seems to be one of those "well everybody knows" things. Has anyone ever seen the actual directions or recipe?
Christine Wallrich
this describes changing the colors of dark pearls http://www.library.upenn.edu/rbm/featured/pearlfraud.html
Jason Porter
I think I have a recipe for pearls in a book I researched for school. I know for a fact it has recipes for emeralds, rubies and diamonds.
Karen Harris
It's in the "Segreti per colori."
Original at https://archive.org/details/illibrodeicolori00riccuoft I think.
English translation of relevant bits at https://archive.org/details/originaltreatis02merrgoog
Genoveva von Lübeck
Heodez De Talento Minotto has made fake pearls, and I am pretty sure she displayed them at Pennsic a few years ago. Here's an article I wrote about her: http://honorbeforevictory.com/sca-artisan-love-lady.../
From the fb "SCA Libary of Alexandria" group:
Libby Cripps
2 questions :)
I'm looking for information about clothing and trim in late 15th /early 16th vector Germany. Anyone care to chat?
Seed pearls - what needle and silk thread would work for 1.5mm pearls? This will actually be part of a brocade tablet woven band project so it's less about sewing and more about keeping the pearls on their thread.
Robin Berry
#15 beading needles should work. sometimes #10 embroidery or straw (no eye bulge). silk - Aurora Silk 2 ply spun is what I use.
Michaela de Bruce
I'm currently working my way through my reference library of images to get them webbed. There is a lot of allegorical art out there and trimming is where most of shows the "exoticism."
Which direction are you working from? An interest in the trimming or an interest in the garments?
It just helps me find examples :)
PS that library is being webbed. It's just taken a while to sort the web side of things.
Libby Cripps
I'm translating a 1471 manuscript of German Brocade patterns, some of which include pearling. It is a pattern book however, and doesn't include information about usage. I'd like to build up more "as used on sources".
Robyn Spencer
"Drei Schnittbucher" by Katherine Barich & Marion McNeally notes that according to the Austrian sumptuary laws of early 1552-1603, the wives of Counts, Lords, Knights and Nobles could wear trimmings including pearls, up to 1/8 of an ell on their clothes. Burghers could not wear pearls on their clothes, but could use a limited number on headdresses, with the total cost of the headwear limited to 6 gulden.
Thea Glas
Which ell is it likely to be? There are a number of different measurements...it could be anything from about 18 inches to four times that. How do we calculate? And where would one search for how many pearls 6 gulden worth would be?
Robyn Spencer
Thea Glas Unlike Germany, Austria had a standard ell at this time - 78.5cm. A gulden was about 9 days work for a craftsman, so this is 2 month's work! Can't help you on the price of pearls, but freshwater pearls were found in European streams and they are regularly seen on portraits of well to do Burgher wives, so within reach.
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