Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 183, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1917 — The History of Pearls. [ARTICLE]

The History of Pearls.

“The modern recognition of pearls, dates back to about 300 B. C., but they were known to, yet older peoples, and especially to those of the East,” says the author of a book published under the title, "The History of Pearls.” “The Chinese records go still farther back, and oyster pearls were received as tribute in the twenty-third century B. C. It is probable that they were found in the waters of Ceylon and India two thousand years ago, and the Greeks of course knew the pearl and recognized its value. But it was not until the Roman empire was beginning to rise that the knowledge of the value of the pearl became general. It seems that in early times Britain played its part in the production of these gems, and Tacitus refers to British pearls, but calls them dull-colored and dirty brown. Origen, on the contrary, declared that the pearls that came from Britain held the second rank in value. It was not, however, until about the twelfth century that pearls were used in England, when they became conspicuous in church ornamentation.” .