Origin of Name
The seven-stranded Baroda Pearl Necklace, one of the
most extravagant pearl necklaces ever created, was the most expensive
piece of jewelry in the fabulous collection of jewels and jewelry that
once belonged to Maharajah Khande Rao Gaekwad of Baroda, the 9th
in the line of succession of 13 Gaekwad Maharajahs who ruled the Maratha
Kingdom of Baroda, situated in the mid-west of the Indian sub-continent, 250
miles (400 km) from Mumbai. The Maharajah Khande Rao Gaekwad has gone
down in history as the greatest collector of jewels and jewelry in the 19th
century, and some of the extraordinary pieces ascribed to his period of
rule include, the famous seed pearl and jewel-encrusted carpet known as
the "Pearl Carpet of Baroda," an ornamental belt of one hundred rows of
pearls, a triple-tiered diamond necklace incorporating the 129-carat
"Star of the South" diamond and the 78.53-carat "English Dresden
diamond, as its centerpiece, known as the "Baroda Diamond Necklace,"
and the
seven-stranded diamond and emerald necklace known as the "Hindu
Necklace." The seven-stranded pearl necklace also created during
this period became internationally famous when a photograph of the
12th Gaekwad Maharajah Sayaji Rao III, the most enlightened of all
the Gaekwad Maharajahs, wearing the pearl necklace appeared in the "Book
of the Pearl" published in 1908 by George Frederick Kunz, and came
to be known as the "Baroda Pearl Necklace." Again during
the period of the 13th and the last Gaekwad Maharajah, at the time India
became an Independent republic, Maharajah Pratapsingh Rao
Gaekwad, who ruled between 1939 and 1951, the necklace again gained
international attention, when the Maharajah was photographed by Henri Cartier Bresson wearing the
renowned necklace.
Sayaji Rao III ,Gaekwad of Baroda
Characteristics of
the Baroda Pearl Necklace
The original Baroda
Pearl Necklace
The original Baroda Pearl Necklace that was
commissioned by Maharajah Khande Rao Gaekwad during the early years of
his 14-year rule, between 1856 and 1870, was made up of seven strands of
matching pearls in terms of size, shape, color, luster and surface
quality. The shape of the pearls were spherical or near-spherical and
the color was white. The pearls were apparently blemish-free, or
contained minor blemishes not visible to the naked eye. The luster of
the pearls were extraordinary in keeping with the good quality nacre
that was thick and translucent. Little wonder that the luster of these
pearls had remained undiminished during the last 150 years.
Pratapsingh Rao, Gaekwad wearing the Baroda pearl
necklace
An approximation of the number of pearls in each of
the strands of the necklace can be made by counting the number of pearls
in the visible section of each strand in the photographs of Sayaji Rao
III Gaekwad and Pratapsingh Rao Gaekwad. Adding 15 pearls to the lowest
three strands and 10 pearls to the remaining four upper strands,
representing the approximate number of pearls on the rear side of the
neck, we arrive at the approximate number of pearls in each strand,
numbered from the lowest to the upper most strand.
Strand No 1 (lowest strand) - approximately 50 pearls
+ 15 pearls=65 pearls
Strand No 2
-approximately 45 pearls + 15 pearls=60 pearls
Strand No 3
-approximately 35 pearls + 15 pearls=50 pearls
Strand No 4
-approximately 30 pearls + 10 pearls=40 pearls
Strand No 5
-approximately 30 oearls + 10 pearls=40 pearls
Strand No 6
-approximately 30 pearls + 10 pearls=40 pearls
Strand No7(upper most strand)-approximately 25
pearls+10 pearls=35 pearls
Total number of pearls (approximate) in the necklace
=330 pearls
Thus the approximate range of the total number of
pearls in the original Baroda Necklace = 300 to 350 pearls.
The seven-stranded
pearl necklace is reduced to six strands
Most of the Baroda Crown Jewels were carried to the
Monaco residence of Maharajah Pratapsingh Rao before India gained
independence from the British in 1947. When the Government of India,
issued an ultimatum to the Maharajah to return the crown jewels to the
Baroda treasury or be removed from his position and consequently loose
all princely privileges given by the government, the Maharajah did
indeed return some of the more expensive pieces in the collection such
as the Baroda three-tiered diamond necklace, containing the "Star of the
South" diamond and the "English Dresden" diamond, and the Baroda Pearl
Necklace. However, the Baroda Pearl Necklace was now reduced to six
strands, from its original seven. It is not known whether it was the
shortest or longest strand of the necklace that was missing.
Part of the missing
Baroda Pearl Necklace appears at a Christie's auction in New York in
April 2007
The renowned Baroda Pearl Necklace thus became part
of the crown jewels of Baroda again and was kept in the Lakshmi Vilas
Palace, the official residence of the royal family of Baroda. The fate
of the Baroda Pearl Necklace since then is not known, but a two-stranded
pearl necklace reconstituted from selected pearls of the original Baroda
Pearl Necklace, suddenly made it appearance at a Christie's auction in
New York in April 2007, and set a world record price of $7.1 million,
the highest ever realized by a pearl necklace at an auction.
The reconstituted two strand Baroda pearl necklace
The reconstituted
two-stranded Baroda Pearl Necklace
The original seven-stranded pearl necklace was made
up of approximately 300 to 350 matching pearls of extraordinary quality,
in terms of size, shape, color, luster and surface quality. The
anonymous owner of the original Baroda Pearl Necklace got his jewelry
designers, most probably Cartier's to select 68 of the finest and
largest pearls from the original necklace, and reconstitute them as a
two-stranded or two-tiered pearl necklace. The pearls were selected from
the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th strands (It is not certain whether this
numbering is from bottom to top as above or vice versa) of the original
pearl necklace, and their sizes varied from 9.47 mm to 16.04 mm. The
two-tiered pearl necklace consists of 33 pearls in the inner row and 35
pearls in the outer row, and the two rows are joined by a cushion-cut
diamond Cartier clasp. The pearls are all perfectly spherical, and each
of the two rows as seen in the photograph, has the largest pearl placed
at its lowest point along the median line, and pearls of matching size
placed at symmetrical positions from the median line. The pearls
progressively decrease in size as we move from the front towards the
rear of the necklace, with the clasp. Thus the reconstituted two-stranded Baroda
Pearl Necklace is made up of the most perfect of perfect spherical pearls from the original
Baroda Pearl necklace, and is also matched perfectly for size and shape,
making it one of the most perfectly designed pearl necklaces in the
world. It is a combination of perfect quality, designing and historical
provenance that has made the reconstituted Baroda Pearl Necklace, one of
the most expensive pearl necklaces in the world today.
History of the Baroda
Pearl Necklace
The source of the
pearls in the Baroda Pearl Necklace
The Persian Gulf,
the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar
Given the fact that the necklace originated in the
mid-19th century, the most possible sources of the Baroda Pearls are the
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar, the hub of the
international pearl trade since ancient times, save for a short period
in the 16th and 17th centuries when the emphasis shifted to the lands of
the New World colonized by the Spanish Conquistadors, such as Venezuela,
Colombia, Panama and Mexico. Due to intensive exploitation by the
Spanish the pearl oyster beds of Venezuela and Panama were totally
exhausted in the mid-17th century barely a century and a half after they
were first discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1498 in Venezuela. From
the mid-17th century onwards, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf
of Mannar once again regained their prominence as the center of the
international pearl industry.
Sustainable
exploitation of pearl oyster resources in the Persian Gulf
In this part of the world the Spanish colonialists
did not make much headway, but yet the region came under the sway of the
Portuguese, Dutch and the British colonialists. However, the Portuguese,
Dutch and British did not have a free hand in exploiting the pearl
resources of this region, as the Spanish had in the New World. All
aspects of the pearl industry, such as diving, processing and marketing
were in the hand of indigenous people of the region, who had been
practicing sustainable exploitation of the resources, for thousands of
years, without any threat of decimation of the pearl oyster beds in
the region. The colonialists exerted an indirect control over the trade,
by imposing taxes, collecting license fees or taking a share of the
harvest. Thus the Persian Gulf pearl industry survived up to the early
20th century, without any significant decline in production, until Mikimoto's cultured pearls that entered the international pearl markets
in the 1920s-1930s, caused the unfortunate death of this ancient
industry, bringing untold misery and hardship to thousands of
people engaged in this traditional industry.
Exploitation of
pearl oyster resources in the Gulf of Mannar during the colonial period
In the Gulf of Mannar, the situation fluctuated
during the period of rule of different colonialists. When the Portuguese
were at the helm of the affairs in this region, in the 16th century,
they exerted a more direct control on the pearl trade. However, they
were more successful only on the Indian side of the Gulf of Mannar,
where the Portuguese evangelists led by St. Francis Xavier successfully
converted an entire ethnic group of the South Indian coast to Roman
Catholicism, known as the "Parawas" who were traditionally employed in
the pearl fishing trade on the Indian side of the Gulf of Mannar. On the
Sri Lankan side of the Gulf of Mannar, the Portuguese policies were a
dismal failure, as the policy of evangelization was bitterly resisted by
the indigenous population, especially the Tamil Hindus of the Jaffna
Kingdom, under whose domain the lucrative pearl banks were situated,
whose mighty ruler King Sankili I (1519-1561) massacred 600-700 Parawa
Catholics brought by the Portuguese from the Indian side of the Gulf, to
exploit the pearl resources on the Sri Lankan side of the Gulf. Sankili
I, successfully resisted Portuguese colonization till his death in 1561.
Even during the time of Sankili I's successors the Portuguese could not
make much headway, until the year 1619, when the Portuguese finally
captured Jaffna. The Portuguese colonialists went on the rampage in
Jaffna to avenge their former defeats at the hand of the Tamil Hindus,
killing, and maiming innocent populations, and destroying their ancient
places of worship. All the Hindu temples in the Jaffna Peninsula were
raised to the ground by the Portuguese colonialists, demonstrating their
traditional intolerance towards other religions, and perhaps under the
misplaced notion that their beliefs represented the only true beliefs in
the world. The behavior of the Portuguese in Jaffna after its capture in
1619, seem to have many parallels in the atrocities committed by the
Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez in the New World in the 16th
century against its indigenous people.
During the Dutch period in the 18th century pearl
fishing rights in the Gulf of Mannar on the Sri Lankan side was rented
out to private entrepreneurs on an annual basis. The British
colonialists who came in after the Dutch towards the end of the 18th
century, initially followed the Dutch system of renting out pearl
fishing rights annually, but later took a direct part in pearl fishing
by employing pearl divers and boats and taking two-third of the harvest,
while giving one-third to the pearl divers and the boat owners. The
whole fishery was supervised by the government, which sold its share of
the pearl oysters by public auction. Intensive exploitation of the pearl
banks led to depletion of resources, and eventually pearling in the Gulf
of Mannar was abandoned by the British at the beginning of the 20th
century.
Pearls used in the
Baroda Pearl Necklace and the Pearl Carpet of Baroda originated in the
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar
Most of the pearls harvested in the Persian Gulf, the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Mannar, in the 16th to 19th centuries found
their way to the lucrative pearl market in Bombay where the merchants
received much higher prices for their products than the London market.
During the height of the Mughal period in India from 1526 to 1707,
almost all the pearls produced in this region, entered the courts of the
Mughal Empire in Agra and Delhi. With the decline of the Mughal Empire
after Aurangzeb in 1707, several independent kingdoms were established
in different parts of India, ruled by powerful Maharajahs. The Maratha
kingdom set up by Maharaj Chattrapati Shivaji and the Kingdom of
Hyderabad founded by Asaf Jah, Mir Qamar-ud-Din in 1724 were two
of the powerful kingdoms that were established. The Kingdom of Baroda
was founded in 1732, when the Marathi General Pilaji Rao Gaekwad
conquered Baroda City from the Mughal Empire. The Kingdom of Baroda and
the Kingdom of Hyderabad were two of the kingdoms that aligned
themselves with the British colonialists, and thus received their
protection and were granted internal autonomy, in return for recognizing
British suzerainty. These two kingdoms eventually turned out to be the
richest kingdoms in India, and their rulers also lavished large sums of
money in the purchase of high quality pearls from the Persian Gulf and
the Gulf of Mannar. Khande Rao Gaekwad, the 10th Maharajah of Baroda
also made lavish purchases of pearls originating from these regions,
which were incorporated in the fabulous pieces of jewelry such as the
Baroda Pearl Necklace, that was produced during this period. The large
number of seed pearls incorporated in the Baroda Pearl Carpet, another
creation of this period, also came from this region.
Pinctada radiata the
oyster that produced the Baroda Pearls
Pinctada
radiata, part of a globally distributed species complex ?
Pinctada radiata, the Gulf Pearl Oyster was the main
pearl oyster species found in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Gulf
of Mannar, around which the natural pearl industry was built since
ancient times. The species is also found in other geographic locations
such as the Caribbean coasts of Panama, Colombia and Venezuela, Southern
Atlantic coast of the United States, Northern coast of Brazil and
Bermuda, where it is known as the Atlantic pearl oyster (Pinctada
imbricata). Other geographic locations where the species is found is the
Indo-Pacific regions of China, Japan and Korea, where it is known as
Pinctada fucata and Pinctada martensii, and Australia. According to
modern scientific evidence based on the study of DNA profiles, the four
Pinctada species found in different geographic regions of the world,
radiata, imbricata, fucata and martensii, which were originally thought
to be different species, based on minor morphological and anatomical
differences, are now considered to be a species complex, known as fucata/imbricata/martensii/radiata
species complex. The complex represents a cosmopolitan, globally
distributed species, characterized by substantial intraspecific
variation over its range. Thus the Gulf pearl oyster Pinctada radiata,
the Atlantic pearl oyster Pinctada imbricata and the Indo-Pacific pearl
oysters Pinctada fucata and Pinctada martensii belong to the same
species in spite of their widely separated habitats.
Some
characteristics of Pinctada radiata
Pinctada radiata in the Gulf of Mannar, has pale
yellow shells, with 7 to 8 brownish radial bands, and a slightly pinkish
lip. The average length of the shells is 7 to 8 cm. The Persian Gulf
variety of the species, is larger, darker and has a reddish lip. The
nacre color is usually white, cream or light pink. Rarely the color of
the nacre can be yellow, brown or violet. The average life span of the
oysters is 7 to 8 years. The species is well known for producing seed
pearls (< 2mm in diameter). The approximately 1.5 million seed pearls
used in the Baroda Pearl Carpet originated from Pinctada radiata species
of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Mannar. But the species also
produces pearls of medium size and larger pearls varying in size
from 9 to 16 mm, as seen in the reconstituted Baroda Pearl Necklace.
Pinctada radiata is found in clusters attached to rocks and other hard
surfaces by byssal threads at depths of 10-20 meters.
The extravagance of
Maharajah Khande Rao Gaekwar
Khande
Rao Gaekwad, the greatest collector of jewels in the 19th century
In a discussion of the history of any famous jewelry
piece that once belonged to the Baroda Crown Jewels, like the
Baroda Pearl Necklace, the main character that invariably emerges is
Maharajah Khande Rao Gaekwad, the 10th Gaekwar Maharajah that ruled the
kingdom of Baroda from 1856 to 1870. The obvious reason for this was
that most of the renowned pieces of jewelry belonging to the Baroda
Crown Jewels, known today, originated during his period of rule. Khande
Rao Gaekwad has gone down in the history of the Baroda Kingdom for
his most lavish and extravagant spending habits, investing heavily on
jewels and jewelry. He was reputed to be the greatest collector of jewels
and jewelry in the 19th century. He acquired the 128.48-carat, "Star of
the South" diamond, an exceptional quality Brazilian diamond for
£80,000, and organized a massive celebration to
welcome the diamond to Baroda soil, that included a parade of elephants
dressed in their finest gilded arrays. Subsequently he purchased the
76.5-carat, drop-shaped "English Dresden" diamond reputedly for a sum of
around £40,000. He then got both diamonds incorporated as the
centerpiece of a three-tiered diamond necklace, that came to be known as
the "Baroda Diamond Necklace." Another piece that is attributed to his
period of rule, is the seven-stranded magnificent diamond and emerald
ceremonial necklace, known as the "Hindu Necklace."
George Frederick Kunz estimated the value of the Baroda Pearl Necklace
to be around $500,000 in 1908
However, the piece that
represents the peak of his extravagance was undoubtedly what is known
today as the "Pearl Carpet of Baroda," which is believed to be actually
one of four such carpets that was to form a canopy over the tomb of
Prophet Muhammad at Medina, a pet project of the maharajah, probably in
fulfillment of a vow he had undertaken for prayers answered. The four
gold posts that was to serve as supports for the canopy, were in the
process of being manufactured, when the Maharajah died. His successor
Malhar Rao Gaekwad did not share his enthusiasm for the project and the
carpets remained in Baroda. George Frederick Kunz in his book "The Book
of the Pearls" published in 1908, states that the "Pearl Carpet of
Baroda" is probably the most costly pearl ornament in the world, its
value being estimated at several million dollars. Kunz estimates the
total value of the treasures held by the Gaekwar of Baroda at $12
million in 1908, and places an estimate of half-a-million dollars on the
Baroda Pearl Necklace, made up of seven rows of superb pearls.
The riches of the
Baroda treasury exposed to the outside world by Sayaji Rao III
The Baroda Pearl Necklace
together with the other crown jewels of Baroda, was then inherited by
Malhar Rao Gaekwad (1870-75), who was forced to abdicate his throne in
favor of the young Sayaji Rao III, from a different lineage of the
Gaekwar family, after his purported involvement in a plot to poison the
British Resident Colonel Phayre. Sayaji Rao III (1875-1939), who was
educated in England and exposed to life in Europe during his extensive
travels, was the most enlightened of all the Gaekwar Maharajahs, and
introduced some of the advances he had observed in these countries to
the development of his own domain, and Baroda became one of the most
developed Princely States in India. G. F. Kunz's "The Book of the
Pearls" published a photograph of Sayaji Rao III Gaekwad wearing the
renowned seven-stranded Baroda Pearl Necklace. However, Sayaji Rao III
rarely adorned any of the enormous collection of jewels at his disposal,
and it was through him the outside world came to know about the enormous
treasures held by the Baroda Crown. In 1909, Sayyaji Rao III, took his
guest Reverend Weeden on a tour of the Baroda State Treasury, underneath
the Nazr Bagh Palace. The Reverend was simply overwhelmed with the vast
amounts of silver, gold and jewels he saw, stored in the vault, and also
reported seeing bejeweled vessels and ornamentation, crammed into
every nook of the guarded vault.
Most
of the Baroda crown jewels including the Baroda Pearl Necklace are
transferred to the Monaco residence of Pratapsingh Rao Gaekwad
The treasures including the Baroda Pearl Necklace,
was then inherited by Sayaji Rao's grandson Pratapsingh Rao Gaekwad
(1939-51) in 1939, who became famous for breaking with tradition and
taking a second wife, Maharani Sita Devi in 1943, while his first wife
was still living. After World War II in 1946, Maharani Sita Devi
relocated to the independent principality of Monaco, in Europe, where
the Maharajah purchased a magnificent mansion for her, and most of the
crown jewels of Baroda were eventually moved to this overseas palace of
the Maharajah. It was while in Monaco that Maharajah Pratapsingh Rao was
photographed by Henri Cartier Bresson wearing the seven-stranded pearl
necklace, during a formal occasion in the Monaco palace.
The Baroda Pearl
Necklace is returned to the Baroda treasury together with some other
valuable pieces of jewelry
In 1947, when India gained independence, the Princely
State of Baroda acceded to the Indian Union, and became part of the newly
created Bombay State. The Government of India took over the Baroda
treasury, and was shocked to find that the treasury was virtually empty,
and all the valuable treasures gone. The government issued an ultimatum
to the former Maharajah Pratapsingh Rao Gaekwad, to return all the
stolen treasures of Baroda, now in the custody of his second wife
Maharani Sita Devi in Monaco, or choose abdication in favor of his son
by his first wife and loose all princely privileges. The Maharajah then
returned some of the jewels, that included the Baroda Pearl Necklace and
the three-tiered diamond necklace containing the "Star of the South"
diamond and the "English Dresden" diamond; two of the most expensive
pieces of jewelry in the collection. The seven-stranded pearl necklace
however, was now reduced to a six-stranded necklace. In spite of the return of some of the treasures in the
Baroda treasury, Maharajah Pratapsingh Rao Gaekwad was asked to
abdicate in favor of his son by his first wife, in 1951, mainly because
of the anti-Indian stance taken by him while living abroad. The maharajah
then returned to his European residence in Monaco.
The sudden appearance
of the reconstituted Baroda Pearl Necklace in April 2007 at a Christie's
auction in New York
The Baroda Pearl necklace that entered the treasury
of the Lakshmi Villas Palace was not heard of again, until it reappeared
at a Christie's "Magnificent Jewels" sale, in New York on April 25,
2007, in a reconstituted form containing only two-strands. The auction
house maintained the anonymity of the owner of the necklace as well as
its purchaser at the auctions, said to be an Asian private collector,
who bid by telephone. The necklace fetched a record price of $7.1
million, the highest price ever paid for a natural pearl necklace at an
auction, and in keeping with the pre-sale estimate of $7 million to $ 9
million. The previous record was set by another two-strand natural pearl
necklace which sold for $3.1 million at a Christie's auction in Geneva,
in November 2004. The Christie's "Magnificent Jewels" sale, netted a
total of $39.1 million, and also included a 22.66-carat Kashmir blue
sapphire, belonging to the Minnesota Historical Society, that sold for
$3.1 million, the highest price ever paid for a blue sapphire at an
auction. The two-strand Baroda pearl necklace was actually a part of an
entire suite of pearl jewelry that also included a matching pair of
natural pearl and diamond ear pendants, a brooch and a ring.
You are welcome to discuss this post/related topics with Dr Shihaan and other experts from around the world in our FORUMS (forums.internetstones.com)
Related :-
1)
Chalk Emerald Ring
2)
Baroda Pearl Carpet
3)
Star of the South Diamond
4)
English Dresden Diamond
External Links :-
Christie's to offer the most important pearl necklace
ever seen at auction - Christie's Press Release
Baroda Pearls sell for record price -
www.modernjeweler.com
References :-
1) The Book of the Pearl - G. F. Kunz, Pearls of the
Gaekwar of Baroda, pp 460
2) Pinctada radiata -
www.pearl-guide.com
3) Business Standard - Missing Baroda Pearls at
Christie's - Kishore Singh, March 24, 2007
4) Gaekwad - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
5) Christie's to offer the most important pearl
necklace ever seen at auction - Christie's Press Release
6) Baroda Pearls sell for record price -
www.modernjeweler.com
