Pearlescent.
Study #7
Louise Brooks 1929, Eugene Robert Richee
Pearls are created by a mollusk producing layers of nacre around an irritant (a grain of sand, a shell fragment, etc) that has made its way into its shell, in order to protect itself.
Chemisette Verte, Domenico Gnoli
Natural pearls mainly appear in the Persian Gulf but have become so plundered they are extremely rare.
The Sleeping Lion, the world’s largest freshwater pearl. Once owned by Catherine the Great, it recently sold at auction for $374,000.
Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded in creating the first man-made, or cultured, pearl in 1893 by inserting a tiny piece of bead into a shell to force the nacre-build-up process. The ability to mass produce pearls sparked a surge in their popularity, as until that point they had been reserved for royalty and the very wealthy.
Mother & Pearl Vase, Rachel Saunders
Finely milled pearl powder been used for thousands of years in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine as a detoxifying and anti-inflammatory agent. Wu Zetian, a Chinese empress, supposedly used the powder to achieve a luminous complexion. Pearl powder contains amino acids, calcium, and trace minerals and can be applied topically or ingested orally.
From Gucci’s 2018 Cruise Collection at the Palatine Gallery in Florence.
The 16th century in England was known at the Pearl Age due to it’s popularity and appeal; however, pearls had been worn for centuries and thought by some cultures to symbolize the moon and by others to provide protection and luck to its wearer.
Satiated, 2003 by Marilyn Minter
Pearls are judged based on lustre, surface perfection, shape, color and size. They are hand-selected for these qualities and in order to obtain enough pearls for a 16” necklace one must sort through an average of 10,000.
When Marc Antony challenged Cleopatra to consume the wealth of an entire nation in one meal she dissolved a pearl in a glass of wine and drank it down.
Late Georgian Seed Pearl Lover’s Eye Pendant
in Victorian England seed pearls were commonly worn during periods of mourning as they resembled tears.
