Friday, 20 July 2018

Ugly Pearl

When I read that the worlds largest freshwater pearl was going to be sold, I had visions of a beautiful pearl, set in a stunning clasp ....

Catherine The Great Liked Pearls ...

Especially as it was once owned by Catherine The Great of Russia. It came from China sometime after 1760, which is when it stopped forming. It possibly was smuggled out via the Dutch East India Company - despite a Qing dynasty ban on exporting large pearls. It was first auctioned in Amsterdam in 1778 after the death of its first owner, Hendrik Coenraad Sander of the Dutch East India Company, where it was snapped up by Catherine's buyer.

So imagine my disappointment when I saw a picture of it .....

Known As The Sleeping Lion Pearl It Originally Came From China.

... Ugly, isn't the word. You have to stretch your imagination to name the The Sleeping Lion. More like H. P. Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu' to me ....

H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu ...
In any event I can see why its been sold a number of times despite being rare. This time it went to a Chinese buyer for  €320,000 ($374,000) which was below its estimated value. We can assume that in view of the Chinese nationalism, that fuels the vogue for buying back anything that the West obtained or stole from China, it won't appear on the Western markets again.

And a good thing too, in my opinion.
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous23 July 2018 at 07:24

    No something you would like hanging round your neck is it?

    Just shows that size isn't everything.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No PC23 July 2018 at 21:33

      Very true. I often console myself with that thought. Thanks for the comment.

      Delete

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