This is a beautifully illustrated account of pearls through millennia, from fossils to contemporary jewellery. Pearls are the most human of gems, both miraculous and familiar. Uniquely organic in origin, they are as intimate as our bodies, created through the same process by which we grow bones and teeth. They have long been described as an animal's sacrifice, but until recently their retrieval often entailed the sacrifices of enslaved and indentured divers and labourers. While the shimmer of the pearl has enticed Roman noblewomen, Mughal princes, Hollywood royalty, mavericks and renegades, encoded in its surface is a history of human endeavour, abuse and aspiration - pain locked in the layers of a gleaming gem.
| ISBN: | 9781789146219 |
| Publication date: | 17th October 2022 |
| Author: | Fiona Lindsay Shen |
| Publisher: | Reaktion Books |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 256 pages |
| Genres: |
Popular Science Chemistry of minerals, crystals and gems |
This is a beautifully illustrated account of pearls through millennia, from fossils to contemporary jewellery. Pearls are the most human of gems, both miraculous and familiar. Uniquely organic in origin, they are as intimate as our bodies, created through the same process by which we grow bones and teeth. They have long been described as an animal's sacrifice, but until recently their retrieval often entailed the sacrifices of enslaved and indentured divers and labourers. While the shimmer of the pearl has enticed Roman noblewomen, Mughal princes, Hollywood royalty, mavericks and renegades, encoded in its surface is a history of human endeavour, abuse and aspiration - pain locked in the layers of a gleaming gem.
Pearl features in the following genres: Popular Science, Chemistry of minerals, crystals and gems
Pearl is available in Hardback
Pearl was written by Fiona Lindsay Shen and published by Reaktion Books
Pearl has 256 pages
£28.80