Louis Kornitzer's book, Gem Trader, is partly autobiographical and partly woven round the lore of pearls. It's educational + explains the distribution chain of gems, as they pass from hand to hand, from miner to cutter, from merchant to millionaire, from courtesan to receiver of stolen goods, shaping human lives as they go + the unique characters in the industry.
(via Gem Trader) Louis Kornitzer writes:
But modern prospectors have failed to rediscover the emerald mines of the Incas. It is known that before the conquest of Peru by the Incas the people of that country obtained huge quantities of emeralds; and even long after they had lost their independence they were still able to obtain the precious gems by some means. In Prescott’s Conquest of Peru there is an account of how the Spaniards under Pizarro came to the province of Quito and found ‘the fair River of Emeralds, so called from the quarries of the beautiful gem on its borders, from which the Indian monarchs enriched their treasury.’ But modern adventurers have not found those quarries, though the emerald deposits from which in our own day the best stones come are also in South America, near Bogota, capital of the Republic of Colombia.
Siberia also produces emeralds. Comparatively recently they were discovered—in company with aquamarines and alexandrites—in the Ural mountains, on the River Takovaya, some sixty miles N.E from Ekaterinburg. Other localities in which the gem has been found—not always of anything like first-rate quality, however—are the Salzburg Alps (Habachthal), and in Norway and New South Wales. In the U.S.A they are found in the hiddenite workings at Stonypoint, Alexander County, N.C.
Hernando Cortes, conqueror of Mexico, was given, or otherwise obtained from Montezuma, large quantities of emeralds which he dispatched to the Spanish Court. But there were certain gems which he reserved as a gift for his bride, notably several emeralds carved in the shape of a fish, a hunting horn, a bell and a small cup.
These gems excited the admiration of the Court ladies, says Prescott again (this time in his Conquest of Mexico), and, perhaps unfortunately for Cortes, the desire of his queen, Isabella. ‘The queen of Charles the Fifth, it is said—it may be the idle gossip of a Court—had intimated a willingness to become proprietor of some of these magnificent baubles; and the preference which Cortes gave to his fair bride caused some feelings of estrangement in the royal bosom, which had an unfavorable influence on the future fortunes of the marquess.’
Feelings of estrangement are easily produced in royal bosoms, and it is therefore not impossible that emeralds brought about the downfall of the conqueror of Mexico, just as in his time they lured on the conqueror of Peru.
There is a footnote to this mention of Pizarro in Peru. The morning after I had written the foregoing passage I opened my morning paper and read this letter from a correspondent:
‘Sir,
Your correspondent is wrong in believing that the Inca treasure designated ‘Big Fish’ is buried beneath Cuzco. In 1575 a direct descendant, or cacique, of the Chimu dynasty, which was destroyed by the Inca conquerors 200 years before, still lived in the ancient Chimu capital near to what is now known as Trujillo on the coast. A young Spaniard, trading as a pedlar between Lima and Trujillo, became so attached to the cacique that he became godfather to two of the cacique’s children.
‘The cacique took him one day to a cave among the ruins of the ancient city and showed him an immense wealth of idols and other articles of gold. In the center of the room was a table of silver, upon which was a model of a fish, the body of gold and the eyes formed by two splendid emeralds.
‘The Spaniard was stupefied at the sight and the cacique said; ‘This is all yours. Today I give you the Peche Chico or Little Fish. If you fulfil the vows you have made to me to devote one-fourth to the Church and look after the poor, I will one day take you the Peche Grande, or Big Fish.’
‘The amount realized on the Peche Chico must have been enormous, because the fifth which went to the Royal Treasury of Spain, according to the old records, was 85000 castellanos of gold. The young Spaniard went to Lima and in a few years dissipated his wealth in luxurious living. He returned to the old cacique for the Peche Grande, but met with stern refusal for not having kept his vow. Many efforts have been made, and seven syndicates have been formed, to explore the ruins, but with no result.’
Daily Telegraph, April 22nd, 1938.
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