found in Oaxaca, Mexico, brought to the United States about 1890, and
is now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Of a light
greenish-gray hue, with a slight tinge of blue, this jade artefact is
272 mm. long (10-13/16 inches), 153 mm. wide (6 inches) and 118 mm.
thick (4-5/8 inches); its weight is 229.3 Troy ounces, nearly sixteen
pounds avoirdupois. Rudely, but not unskilfully, carved upon its face
is a grotesque human figure. Four small, shallow depressions, one under
each eye and one near each hand, may have served to hold in place
small gold films, but no trace of gold decoration is now extant. In
its mechanical execution this adze offers evidence of considerable
skill on the part of the Aztec lapidary, the polish equalling that of
modern workers. In the fact that a large piece, which must apparently
have weighed at least two pounds, has evidently been cut out of this
implement by some one of its Indian owners, we can see a proof of the
talismanic power ascribed to jadeite in Aztec times, for there can be
little doubt that nothing less than a belief in the great virtue of
jadeite coupled with the rarity of the material could have induced the
mutilation of what must have been regarded in its time as a remarkable
work of art.[377]
The source of the prehistoric jade (nephrite and jadeite) found in
Europe, and also of that worked into ornaments by the Indians before
the Spanish Conquest of America, was long the subject of contention
among mineralogists and archæologists. In Germany this question was
denominated the _Nephritfrage_, and the most notable contribution to
the discussion was the great scientific and scholarly work issued by
Heinrich Fischer.[378] His conclusion was that as there was no evidence
of the existence of these minerals outside of a few localities in
Asia, the European and American supply must have been brought to these
parts of the world from Asia, and that hence the presence of these
jade artefacts in America clearly pointed to commercial intercourse at
an early period between the American continent and Asia, and might be
regarded as offering a strong argument in favor of an Asiatic origin
for an American civilization. According to this theory the prehistoric
jade objects found in Europe must have had a similar source, and would
constitute a proof of the existence of traffic with remote points in
Asia at a date long previous to that commonly accepted.
This view was strongly opposed by Prof. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden, and
recent discoveries have effectively disproved the theory in the case
of Europe at least, for nephrite has been found there _in situ_ in
several places. The largest mass of this material that has been taken
from a European deposit is that found by the writer at Jordansmühl in
Silesia, in April, 1899, and which weighed 4704 pounds.[379] The origin
of American jade in the forms of nephrite and jadeite has not yet
been definitely determined, but we have every reason to suppose that
deposits of these minerals will eventually be discovered in various
parts of the American continent, as they have already been in Europe.
Indeed, the existence of nephrite in Alaska is already well attested.
The peculiar and characteristic qualities of these substances have
made them favorite materials for ornamental objects from the earliest
ages down to our own day, and in almost all parts of the world. A most
important element contributing to the popularity of jade has been its
supposed possession of wonderful talismanic and therapeutic virtues,
and while the Western world has not the same belief in these matters
as the Eastern world, a more or less definite appreciation of what
jade still signifies for many in the Orient, continues to exercise an
influence over both Americans and Europeans, making objects of nephrite
or jadeite highly prized everywhere at the present time.
The term _chalchihuitl_ was indifferently applied by the ancient
Mexicans to a number of green or greenish-white stones; _quetzal
chalchihuitl_, which was regarded as the most precious variety, may
perhaps have more exclusively denoted jadeite. This is somewhat
indefinitely described by Sahagun as being “white, with much
transparency, and with a slight greenish tinge, something like jasper.”
Of eight ornamental objects of green stone examined some years ago by
the writer, four were of jadeite, one of serpentine, another of green
quartz, and the remaining two of a mixture of white feldspar and green
hornblende. An inferior kind of _chalchihuitl_, said by Sahagun to have
come from quarries in the vicinity of Tecalco, appears to have been
identical with the so-called “Mexican onyx” which is found in veins in
that place and is an aragonite stalagmite. This material, from which
figures, ornaments and beads were made by the ancient Mexicans, is
to-day greatly valued as an ornamental stone.
The greater number of ancient Mexican jadeite beads appear to have been
rounded pebbles of this material, assorted as to size and drilled for
use in making necklaces. Other green stones used at this time in Mexico
were green jasper, green plasma, serpentine and also the “Tecalco
onyx” or “marble” above mentioned. In many cases these substances are
of such rich green that they might easily be mistaken for jadeite by
those who lacked the tests or the experience at the command of modern
mineralogists. Should jadeite ever be found _in situ_ in Mexico, it
seems probable that the discovery will be made in the State of Oaxaca,
whence came the finest ancient specimens, including the splendid
votive adze. Moreover, one of the few materials by which jadeite can
be worked is furnished by the streams of this region, whence have been
taken several rolled pebbles which the writer has identified as yellow
and blue corundum, the quality being equal to that of specimens from
Ceylon.[380]
Gesner describes one of the lip ornaments worn by the aborigines of
South America in the following words:[381]
A green stone or gem which the inhabitants of the West Indies use.
They pierce their lips and insert this stone so that the thicker
part adheres to the hole and the rest protrudes. We might call these
ornaments _oripenduli_ [mouth-pendants]. This stone was given me by
a learned Piedmontese, Johannes Ferrerius, and he wrote of it as
follows: “I send a cylindrical green stone, as long as a man’s middle
finger, and having at one extremity two ridges. It is stated that the
Brazilians of high rank wore these, from their youth, in their pierced
lips; one or more being worn according to the dignity of the wearer.
While eating, or whenever they so wish for any other reason, these
ornaments are removed from the lips.”
Similar ornaments, made of a green quartz and of beryl, are in the Kunz
collection in the Field Museum of Chicago.
The reason for these strange mutilations, which often cause serious
discomfort to those who practice them, is not at all easy to determine.
Some have conjectured that by the insertion of bright, colored objects
in the ears, nose and lips, members of the same tribe were enabled
to recognize each other at a distance; each tribe having selected a
particular color. However, although certain local preferences are shown
in the matter of color or material, there is no hard and fast rule
in this matter, and frequently neighboring tribes will employ stones
or shells of the same or similar hue and appearance. Others find in
this custom a religious significance and suppose that the mutilation
represents a form of sacrifice to the spirits, good or bad, who must
be rendered favorable to man by some act on his part showing his
unconditional submission to them. Originating in this way the idea of
adornment was a secondary impulse. It is a fact that ancient peoples
regarded the wearing of ear-rings as a badge of slavery, and, according
to a Rabbinical legend, Eve’s ears were pierced as a punishment for her
disobedience, when she was driven from the Garden of Eden.
A curious theory was advanced by Knopf.[382] He calls attention to the
habit children have of thrusting small bright objects into their noses
and ears, and suggests that this indicates a natural propensity which,
coupled with the early-developed love of adornment, induced primitive
man to affix ornamental objects on or in the nose, ear, or mouth. There
may be more in this than we are willing to admit, but on the whole it
seems most probable that ceremonial and religious considerations gave
rise to the custom.
One of the largest masses of sculptured Chinese jade is in the
collection of T. B. Walker, Esq., of Minneapolis. This shows a jade
mountain, with groups of figures artistically placed at its base, and
winding pathways up to its summit. On the face of the rock is inscribed
in beautiful Chinese characters the Epidendron Pavilion Essay of Wang
Hi-che, a masterpiece of Chinese calligraphy.
An enormous mass of New Zealand jade (punamu, “green stone”) weighing
7000 pounds, found in South Island in 1902, is to be seen in the
Museum of Natural History, New York; it was secured by the writer and
was donated to the Museum by the late J. Pierpont Morgan. This is
the largest mass of jade known, or of which we have any record. On
it is placed a remarkable and, in its own peculiar way, an artistic
decoration, serving as a type of old Maori life, and at the same
time designating the geographic source of the jade in a striking and
unmistakable manner calculated to appeal to the least intelligent
visitor. This is a statue of a Maori warrior of the old days, executing
a war dance, characteristics of which were a distortion of the features
and a thrusting out of the tongue intended to express defiance and
contempt of the enemy; the time or cadence of the dance was marked by
slapping the thigh with the flat of the left hand. This figure was
executed from life by Sigurd Neandross; indeed it was actually cast
from the model, so that there can be no doubt as to its fidelity.
Rock-crystal is included among the various objects used as fetiches by
the Cherokee Indians. This stone is believed to have great power to
give aid in hunting and also in divining. One owner of such a crystal
kept his magic stone wrapped up in buckskin and hid it in a sacred
cave; at stated intervals he would take it out of its repository and
“feed” it by rubbing over it the blood of a deer. This goes to prove
that the stone, as a fetich, was considered to be a living entity and
as such to require nourishment.[383]
[Illustration: STATUE OF A MAORI WARRIOR, BY SIGURD NEANDROSS.
The base is a block of New Zealand jade from South Island, weighing
three tons. It was donated by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan to the American
Museum of Natural History.]
Precious stones have been everywhere regarded as especially appropriate
offerings at the shrine of a divinity, for the worshipper naturally
thought that what was most valuable and beautiful in his eyes must also
be most pleasing to the divinity he worshipped. However, we rarely find
the usage which was remarked by Francisco Lopez de Gomara among the
Indians of New Granada about the time of the Spanish Conquest.[384]
These natives “burned gold and emeralds” before the images of the sun
and moon, which were regarded as the highest divinities. Certainly to
use precious stones for a “burnt offering” was an original and curious
idea, although we have abundant proof that pearls were offered in this
way by the mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley. In this case great
quantities of pearls were burned at the obsequies of the chiefs of the
tribes, or at those of any one belonging to the family of a chief.
In ancient Mexico the lapidaries adored the four following divinities
as their tutelary gods: Chiconaui Itzcuintli (“nine dogs”), Naualpilli
(“noble necromancer”), Macuilcalli (“five horses”), and Cintectl
(“the god of harvest”). A festival was celebrated in honor of the
three last-named divinities when the zodiacal sign called _chiconaui
itzcuintli_ was in the ascendant. A feminine divinity represented this
sign and to her was attributed the invention of the garments and the
ornaments worn by women. The four gods of the lapidaries were looked
upon as the discoverers and teachers of the art of cutting precious
stones and of piercing and polishing them, as well as of the making of
labrets and earflaps of obsidian, rock-crystal, or amber. They also
were the inventors of necklaces and bracelets.[385]
The stones worn by Chinese mandarins as a designation of their rank
were undoubtedly determined originally by religious or ceremonial
considerations. They are as follows; it will be noticed that red stones
are given the preference:
Red or pink tourmaline, ruby (and rubellite) 1st rank.
Coral or an inferior red stone (garnet) 2d rank.
Blue stone (beryl or lapis-lazuli) 3d rank.
Rock-crystal 4th rank.
Other white stones 5th rank.
The knowledge of classical mythology was so slight among the
ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages that some very queer attributions of
the subjects engraved on Greek and Roman gems were made during this
period. A reliquary containing a tooth of the Apostle Peter, preserved
in the Cathedral of Troyes, was set with antique gems which had been
plundered by French and Venetian crusaders from the treasure-house
of the Greek Emperor in Constantinople, when that city was sacked in
1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Among these gems was one representing
Leda and the Swan—certainly a curious subject for the adornment of
a Christian reliquary. Another Greek or Roman gem, long preserved in
a church, was furnished by its Christian owners with an inscription
indicating that the figure engraved upon it was that of St. Michael,
while in reality it was a representation of the god Mercury. Still
another gem was provided with an inscription signifying that the
subject was the temptation of Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the
Greek gem engraver’s intent had been to carve the figures of Zeus and
Athena, standing before an olive tree, a design which appears on some
Athenian coins; at the feet of the divinities appears a serpent. In a
similar way the grain-measure crowning the head of Jupiter-Serapis led
to the attribution of a gem so engraved to the patriarch Joseph.[386]
An engraved amethyst bearing the figure of a little Cupid is said to
have been worn in a ring by St. Valentine. While this may be somewhat
doubtful, it is by no means impossible, for many pagan gems were worn
by pious Christians, who reconciled their consciences to the use of
these beautiful but scarcely religious ornaments by giving to the pagan
symbols a Christian meaning. Certainly, in view of the time-honored
customs connected with St. Valentine’s Day, there seems something
peculiarly appropriate in the design of the ring supposed to have been
worn by St. Valentine.
That precious stones had sense and feeling was quite generally believed
in medieval times, and a legend told of St. Martial illustrates this
idea. The gloves worn by this saint were studded with precious stones,
and when on a certain occasion a sacrilegious act was committed in
his presence, the gems, horrified at the sight, sprang out of their
settings and fell to the ground before the eyes of the onlookers.
[Illustration: TITLE PAGE OF A GROUP OF TREATISES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS,
COLLECTED AND EDITED BY CONRAD GESNER AT ZÜRICH IN 1565.
The upper one of the two rings figured is set with a natural pointed
diamond, the lower one with a piece of amber enclosing an insect;
grouped around are twelve stones representing those of the Breastplate.]
The St. Sylvester or St. James stone is a banded agate in two colors,
the one dark and the other light, with a cat’s-eye effect so that both
colors are equally visible. The light side represents the old year,
with its known occurrences, and the opaque side represents the new
year, which is dark like futurity. This is a typical stone for a New
Year’s present or for one born on St. Sylvester’s Day, the last day of
the year. The popular tradition is that the member of a family or a
household who is last to arise on that day will be the last to arise
all the year around.
The famous “Sacro Catino” preserved in Genoa was long believed to be
made of a single immense emerald, but careful investigation proved that
it was of no more valuable material than green glass. A legend still
current in the early part of the sixteenth century represented this
cup, or dish, as having been used by Christ at the Last Supper, and
stated that it was one of the utensils which King Herod ordered to be
brought from Galilee to Jerusalem for the celebration of the paschal
feast; but his purpose having been changed by Divine Providence, he
made other use of it.[387]
A queer story has been told regarding the Genoese emerald. At one
time when the government was hard pressed for money, the Sacro Catino
was offered to a rich Jew of Metz as pledge for a loan of 100,000
crowns. He was loath to take it, as he probably recognized its spurious
character, and when his Christian clients forced him to accept it under
threats of dire vengeance in case of refusal, he protested that they
were taking a base advantage of the unpopularity of his faith, since
they could not find a Christian who would make the loan. However, when
some years later the Genoese were ready to redeem this precious relic,
they were much puzzled to learn that a half-dozen different persons
claimed to have it in their possession, the fact being that the Jew had
fabricated a number of copies which he had succeeded in pawning for
large sums, assuring the lender in each case that the redemption of the
pledge was certain.
Among the celebrated emeralds noted by George Agricola[388] (1490-1555)
was a large one preserved in a monastery near Lyons, France. This is
also mentioned by Gesner, who states that it was shaped as a dish,
or shallow cup, and was held to be the Holy Grail, like its rival at
Genoa.[389] Another of Agricola’s emeralds was somewhat smaller, but
nevertheless measured nine inches in diameter and was in the chapel
of St. Wenceslaus, at Prague; this may have been a chrysoprase, as
at the present day many fine specimens of this stone can be seen in
St. Wenceslaus, where the walls are inlaid with the golden green
gem-stone. Still another, larger than the last named, was set in the
gold monstrance in Magdeburg, and was believed to have been the handle
of Emperor Otho I’s knife, since it was perforated. Possibly, however,
the emerald, if genuine, was an Oriental stone, for it was customary to
pierce rubies, sapphires, emeralds, etc., in the East so as to string
them for necklaces or attach them as pendants to a jewel.
In the convent-church of St. Stephan, in Persian Armenia, erected about
the middle of the seventeenth century, it is related by the French
traveller Tavernier that there was preserved a cross said to be made
out of the basin in which Christ washed the feet of the Apostles. Set
in this cross was a white stone, and the priests asserted that when the
cross was laid upon the body of one seriously ill, this stone would
turn black if he were about to die, but would regain its white hue
after his death.[390]
No jewelled sacred image has been the object of greater reverence than
has been accorded to the rude little wooden carving popularly known as
the “Sacro Bambino” or “Sacred Baby,” in the old church of Ara Coeli
in Rome. This figure was carved, in 1847, by a monk, out of a piece of
olive-wood from one of the ancient trees growing on the Mount of Olives
near Jerusalem. The carving was executed in the Holy Land and was sent
thence to Italy, and although the ship bearing it was shipwrecked, this
precious freight was miraculously preserved and is supposed to have
been conveyed to its destination in some mysterious way. The reverence
of the thousands of pilgrims who in the course of time have gazed
with veneration upon this quaint and curious work of art, has found
expression in the bestowal of a wealth of gems and jewels, including
necklaces, brooches, rings, etc., with which the silken dress of the
image is studded. A crown of gold adorned with precious stones rests
upon the head of the olive-wood figure, which is jealously guarded
by the priests and only shown to the faithful as a particular favor,
except on the occasion of certain religious festivals.
One of the most renowned emeralds in the world surmounted the
elaborately jewelled imperial crown that was placed upon the head of
the venerated image of the Virgen del Sagrario in the Cathedral of
Toledo. This emerald, of a rich green color, was cut as a perfect
sphere and measured about 40 millimetres, or 1½ inches, in diameter.
The crown itself was the work of the Toledan goldsmith, Don Diego Alejo
de Montoya, who began his task in 1574 and devoted twelve years to its
completion. It is described as being of almost pure gold and executed
in the Renaissance style. Curiously chased in arabesque designs and
enamelled in various colors, the framework of the crown served as a
magnificent background for the gems constituting its adornment, which
comprised rubies, emeralds, and Oriental pearls; a row of angels and
cherubs sustained the arches which bore at their summit the allegorical
figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity; upon that representing Faith
rested the splendid emerald. This precious ornament was still preserved
in the Cathedral in 1865, but was so carelessly guarded that it was
stolen in 1869.[391]
If we are to believe the following anecdote, the emerald disappeared
at an earlier date: It is said that in 1809, during the French
occupation of Spain, Marshal Junot visited this cathedral, and the
emerald was pointed out to him as one of the chief glories of the
shrine. As soon as the marshal’s covetous glance rested upon the gem,
he plucked it from its setting, remarking, coolly, to the astonished
and horrified bystanders, “This belongs to me.” Then, smiling and
bowing, he left the cathedral with the emerald safely ensconced in his
waistcoat pocket. Later, it was replaced by an imitation in glass.
The famous collection of jewels gathered together in the treasury of
the Santa Casa, at Loreto, Italy, was plundered during the French
occupation in 1797, and all trace of most of the magnificent ornaments
has been lost. These represented the gifts of many crowned heads and
titled personages; among the former was the unfortunate Henrietta
Maria, wife of Charles I, who donated a golden heart-shaped jewel with
the words “Jesus Maria” incrusted in diamonds. This jewel is described
as being “as big as both a man’s hands, opened onto two leaves, on
one of which was the figure of the Blessed Virgin and on the other a
portrait of the queen herself.”[392] Of the many rich vestments for
decorating the statue of the Virgin in the sanctuary, the most splendid
was the gift of the Infanta Isabel of Flanders, and was valued at
40,000 crowns. In a seventeenth-century account by an English traveller
it is thus described:[393]
Its set thick with six rows of diamonds downe before, to the number of
three thousand, and its all wrought over with a kinde of embroidery of
little pearle set thick everywhere within the flowers with great round
pearle, to the number twenty thousand pearles in all.
The same writer tells us the niche in which the statue was placed was
bordered with a row of precious stones of great number, size, and
value, the colors being so varied that this bordering formed “a rich
Iris of several colors.” There is also said to have been a great pearl,
set in gold, and engraved with the image of the Virgin and Child.[394]
It seems probable that this was a jewel made of a baroque pearl, or
pearls, completed by enamel-work so as to represent the sacred figures.
The pectoral cross worn in solemn processions by the prior of the
monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial was adorned with eight perfect
emeralds, five diamonds, and five pearls. From it hung a splendid
pear-shaped pearl, the gift of Philip II in 1595, and one of the
finest of those acquired by this monarch. In 1740 the cross was valued
at 50,000 crowns, Philip’s great pearl not being included in this
valuation.[395]