The Modern Art Of Finance

The Economist writes about the state of the auctions houses (Sothebys / Christies) + the concept of guaranteed prices in a rising market + the methodology + other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/artview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10087308

American Graffiti

(via The Guardian) Alex Rayner writes about Shepard Fairey, the cult artist + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2203195,00.html

Cut It Out!

Hilarie M. Sheets writes about Kara Walker + the way she connects with the world + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1097

Man Nearly Tosses 4.38-carat Diamond

(via AP) Here is an interesting story of Chad Johnson, who nearly threw away his largest find yet, a cube-shaped, 4.38-carat, tea-colored diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro, Arkansas (USA) + other viewpoints @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071105/ap_on_fe_st/odd_diamond_found

A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones

(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:

Arabia’s trade with India was doomed when Hippalus in 47 A.D solved the riddle of the monsoons. Roman trade with India sprang up overnight and the luxuries of India found their way to Europe by the Red Sea, increasing tremendously the supply of precious stones available to Romans. Soon Indians were seen in Alexandria and Roman citizens of non-Latin blood, Greek, Jews, and Egyptians settled in the ports of India.

Egypt in predynastic days (prior to 3400 B.C) had commercial contacts with the Sinai Peninsula and with the Mesopotamian valley, and certainly by 2900 B.C with the Syrian coast, Crete, and the Sudan. Trade was pushed southward, and by 2750 B.C Egypt was trading with Punt (Somaliland ?). In the XIIth Dynasty (about 2000 B.C), her interest in overseas products increased and she probably had her command Arabian products and even, conceivably, some of those of India. In the XVIIIth Dynasty (1580-1350 B.C), her commerce further expanded. Phoenician merchants were permitted to establish factories at Memphis and the wealth of Asia Minor, the Near East, northeastern Africa, and the Greek isles were hers. A few carnelians and garnets from India probably filtered into Egypt via Arabia a thousand years before Christ. Sapphires, zircons, and the other more valuable Indian stones, however, reached Egypt only in the time of the Hellenistic Ptolemies. Ptolemy Philadelphus (300-246 B.C) sent one Dionysius to southern India to open up commercial relations with that country. Agatharchides (181-146 B.C) states that in his time Egypt’s trade with India was very profitable. Strabo states that about 170 B.C a shipwrecked Indian sailor, half starved and exhausted, was cast upon the shores of the Red Sea. Nursed back to health, he promised to show the way to the Orient and Ptolemy Euergetes II, then ruler of Egypt, sent several merchants with him to India. Among them was a Greek, Eudoxus of Cyzicus, (he made two trips to India, 120 B.C and 113-2 B.C) who after trading his Egyptian merchandise for spices and precious stones, gives us one of the earliest descriptions of Indian gem mining: “Some of the Indian collect from amongst the pebbles of the river, others they dig out of the earth where they have been formed by the moisture as crystals are formed with us.’ It is stated that his rich cargo of spices and precious stones was seized on his return by Ptolemy Euergetes II, who had a monopoly on eastern trade. Alexandria was an important emporium of Indian goods, largely obtained (probably up to about 100 B.C) from the Sabaeans and later direct via the Red Sea ports of Berenice and Myoshormos.

Hecataeus of Miletus, the father of geography (about 520 B.C) is the first European to mention India, although Homer knew tin by its Sanskrit name. According to Herodotus, India (about 570 B.C) paid tribute Persia in gold, and in the campaign of 512 B.C Persian troops annexed large areas of the Punjab and the Sind. In 510 B.C Scylax of Caryanda, a Greek in Darius employ, descended on the Indus, crossed the Indian Ocean, and finally reached Persia. Intercourse between India and the more westerly civilizations was becoming a reality. Herodotus, however, (about 443 B.C) who traveled widely among the Persians, then in commercial touch with India, does not mention the precious stones of India and these, doubtless hoarded by the Hindu rulers, must have rarely reached Persia in his day.

In 479 B.C, when the Greeks defeated the Persian General Mardonius, plunder rendered them luxury conscious. Later the Greeks probably obtained some gems from India through the Persians and the Sabaeans, and rumors of India’s wealth in spices and precious stones may have led Greek merchants thither before Alexander the Great’s time (356-323 B.C). Indeed, some Indian spices were common in Greece in the time of Hippocrates, the great physician (460-357 B.C). We know that Alexander promised his soldiers plunder, as a result of his Indian campaign, which would dwarf the spoils of Persia. Soldiers were to fill with pearls, ivory, gold and precious stones, not only their own homes, but those of all Greece. As a result of the Macedonian’s conquest, the dispersal of the wealth of Persia and India, the accumulation of centuries of hoarding, stimulated world trade enormously. It should be emphasized that Alexander the Great’s routes passed close to the turquoise locality of Nishapur, Persia (first mentioned, so far as I know, by Amur-ru-Lais—from 878 to 903 A.D ruler of Khorasan—but probably worked much earlier), the Badakshan lapis lazuli locality (probably known to the Sumerians); the Badakshan ruby mines (mentioned by Istakhri 951 A.D, but probably known considerably earlier), and the Khotan nephrite deposits (known certainly in the reign of Wu Ti, 140-87 B.C, and perhaps 2500 years earlier).

The road to the East was open, not to be closed in classical times. Fine eastern garnets, sards, amethysts, beryl, topaz, and sapphire became known to the Greeks, and the more precious stones first appeared commonly in Greek jewelry. Ctesias (415-397 B.C) knew of the Indian agate mines and states that Assyria in his time obtained from India sard and onyx for her finer seals.

In support of his assertions, sard and sardonyx first appeared in the Mesopotamian valley in Assyrian times. He also mentions the gem pantarba, which attracts to itself sealstones and has many other marvelous properties. Unfortunately, I cannot identify it.

Seleucus Nicator, ruler of Syria, in 305 led an army into India even further than had his predecessor, Alexander the Great. About 20 B.C, according to Florus, ambassadors from southern India came to the court of Augustus with gifts of precious stones and pearls. In the next six years two other embassies arrived. Again, under Constantine (306-337 A.D), ambassadors from India arrived with shining gifts.

Roman-Indian commerce in spices, gems, and fine textiles was highly developed by Pliny’s time, the first, in money value, being the most important of the three. It is described in detail in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (60 A.D +/-). Most Indian gems arrived in Rome either via Alexandria, by one of the Arabian towns, or by one of the Parthian cities. Yearly, in July, 120 ships sailed from Myoshormos on the Red Sea, later from nearby Berenice. Taking advantage of the monsoons, in about seventy days the boats reached ports on the Malabar coast. Here they undoubtedly met with other ships which went east from that coast and from Ceylon, presumably as far as China. After loading, the Roman vessels returned to Egypt at the year’s end. The cargo was then transported by camel from the Red Sea to the Nile and down it to Alexandria. A fleet carrying gems sailed yearly, under the Empire, from Alexandria to Puteoli (modern Pozzuuoli) near Rome.

Contact with oriental luxury caused the Romans to overindulge in costly stuffs and in the use of jewels; for when they enjoyed the mastery of the Indian trade, the Romans had the wealth to indulge in their tastes, no matter how fantastic or extravagant they might be. The fact that false stones were less common in Rome in the second than they were in the first half of the 1st century A.D was due to the influx of fine gems into Rome from India after the secret of the monsoon was known. Practically every known Indian gem was in use in Pliny’s time but the prices demanded for them were exorbitant. The stones, besides the first cost and export and import duties, had to stand heavy transport charges, and the Roman gem merchant in setting a price had to consider not only his own overhead, but the great risk of shipwreck or piracy which he or his agents had been subjected to in bringing the stones from India. Profits, provided the fleet arrived safely, were enormous, for Pliny tells us that these eastern luxuries were sold at fully one hundred times their original cost. Not only the Indian merchants, but those of all intermediate commercial centers, hid the source of the gems sold to the Romans and exaggerated the dangers of mining them, in part to restrict competition and in part to enhance their value. In consequence, many trade centers became, in the eyes of the ancients, the source of precious stones. Thus, according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, through the Indian port of Barbaricum, on the delta of the Indus, both Persian turquoise and Afghanistan lapis lazuli were shipped, in the 1st century of our era, to Rome. A fairly complete list of gems imported can gotten by the Roman tariff law of the time.

A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)

Sustainable Jewelry

CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, has launched a new web site @ www.sustainablejewellery.org to promote sustainable economic and social development in the countries in which it is active.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

(via YouTube): It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World + A 1963 masterpiece with Spencer Tracy

Useful links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlCb41nelD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2SpROYbYig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee3CPfH2O_I

A real gem. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Tales From The Crypt

Devon Pendleton writes about Simcha Jacobovici's Toronto production company, Associated Producers + The Naked Archaeologist series + the business angle + other viewpoints @ http://members.forbes.com/global/2007/1112/084.html

The Art Of Collecting

Judith Greer, Frieze veteran and co-author of 'Owning Art' suggests how to get the most out of the fair @ Video: The art of collecting

The Hogarth Of Hedge Funds Offers A Glimpse Into A Hidden World

(via The Guardian) Charlotte Higgins writes about Adam Dant, the way he documented the lives of high-net-worth hedge fund pros, their lives in an art format + other viewpoints @ http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2204642,00.html

The New New York

Linda Yablonsky writes about Harlem + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1096

The Three Brethren

(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:

The most striking example of a fashioned trisoctahedral design is the 30ct diamond point in the center of the jewel known as The Three Brethren which was dismantled and dispersed c.1642. In the rough this diamond probably had distinctly rounded faces, a shape often found in India. Its fame rests on three factors: the giant, well-matched and extremely rare red spinels which gave it its name; the four huge Oriental pearls, and the magnificent diamond, whose beauty, strangely enough, only gradually came to be fully appreciated. It was only in 1623 that James I’s jeweler, Heriot, commended it as the most ‘compleat’ stone that he ever saw.

From a thorough study of all available material I was able to construct a replica and to determine the following facts: the diamond was bipyramidal and weighed about 30 ct or slightly more, and its outline was almost that of a regular square, with an average width of about 16 mm. Based on these figures, the overall height could be calculated to about 128 percent, and angles of inclination to an average figure of about 52º (the corresponding figures for a regular octahedron are 141.42 percent and about 54¾º). These proportions can be confirmed by the relative size of the reflection.

As to the faceting, the descriptions clearly indicate a cut that was an imitation of a regular trisoctahedron. The illustrations neither confirm not contradict this but indicate only that the main facet edges were ground down to very narrow facets. Charles the Bold’s inventory of 1467 states that the gem was ‘un gros dyamant pointy a fass’ (i.e. faceted). Fugger’s sales document of 1504-5 says ‘ein demandtpundt indermitt gefieri.’ The word gefiert here means ‘divided into four sections’. This was interpreted by Kind in 1867 and by Streeter in 1882 as ‘having the apex cut into a four-rayed star in relief, each ray corresponding with the center of each face of the pyramid.’ Certainly no possible alternative has been suggested for this early gem.

The reason why the details of the cut cannot be detected from any of the illustrations is partly because the setting is very heavy and hides the lower part of the faceting, and partly because the diamond is always shown only from directly above, which distorts the design. In the drawing by Fugger, which is carefully executed, the ‘shadow’ of the reflections also disguises the top part of the faceting.

Most art historians agree that the jewel was created during the first decade of the fifteenth century. Early documents, however, do not mention The Three Brethren before the murder of Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy in 1419. The first mention dates from the time of the pawning of Duke John’s old plate and jewels in 1412. The Recette Generale in the Lille archives includes among the pawned objects ’22 large pearls, 2 square balaxes in a gold setting....and 1 large square pointed diamond in a gold setting, the which dyamond is the size of a filbert nut’. At that period the Dukes of Burgundy resided in Paris, so it may be assumed that the diamond was acquired in that city, if not necessarily fashioned there. However, diamond cutters were working in Paris around the turn of the century, and it is most likely that both bruting and accurate faceting on a scaife had been fully mastered at least by 1400. Well-shaped octahedrons and large diamonds in general were not normally available on the European market, so the rough stone probably had the shape of an irregular rounded crystal. This would first have to be bruted by hand, a tedious operation but one which would transform the crystal into a slightly rounded double pyramid on whose curved faces it was far easier for the cutter to apply ‘trisoctahedral’ facets than to achieve smooth and shiny large facets.

A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones

(via Roman Book On Precious Stones: 1950) Sydney H Ball writes:

The successive civilizations which occupied the Mesopotamian valley were fortunate in thier position, midway between the eastern and western civilizations. The early Sumerians doubtless got their precious stones from the nearby nomadic peoples; the wandering life of the latter made them familiar with the minerals of the mountains and plains. Later, the people of the Mesopotamian cities became great merchants. From 3000 B.C on they not only had important trade relations with nearby Asia, but with Egypt and India as well. In the Code of Hammurabi (1800 B.C), there are laws for the protection of the wandering trafficker in gems, and soon after the state armies protected the creeping donkey caravans of the Babylonian merchants. The Mesopotamian region and northwestern India were in commercial and cultural contact in the 3rd millennium B.C, if not in the 4th, and Ur of the Chaldees had Indian products. Again, from about 900 B.C to 562 B.C the Assyrians imported from India teak wood and many other products. The trade was probably by caravan, but that going by sea was controlled by the Dravidians, who, availing themselves of the monsoons, voyaged from the southwestern ports of India to Babylon. It was, however, partly in the hands of Aryans. At Babylon these Indians became acquainted with the Semitic alphabet which became the basis of the alphabets of India, Burma, Siam, and Ceylon. Prior to this time, India’s less valuable precious stones (agates, for example; indeed, the fine quality of the carnelian used by the people of Indus Valley in the 3rd millennium B.C suggests that India’s finer agate mines may have been known at that early date) had doubtless been found and from 800 to 600 B.C, the diamond, ruby, and sapphire are believed to have first been known to man. India at that time had an established and rather highly developed industry in jewelry and precious stones. Then, as now, the Hindu wore costly jewelry. The mines were the monopoly of the local rulers and duties on precious stones very heavy.

The Phoenicians were not only early traffickers in amber, but in other luxuries as well. They were daring seamen, and the most aggressive and successful traders of their day. Tyrian industry furnished trade goods, for Tyre had many skilled craftsmen. Homer describes:

‘...a silver bown well wrought,
By Sidon’s artists cunningly adorned,
Bore by the Phoenicians o’er the dark blue sea.’

To satisfy less discriminating nations, she had mass production of salable trade gadgets; for instance, she flooded the Mediterranean market with crudely engraved gems. The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel was sent into captivity in 598 B.C), referring to the commerce of Tyre, mentions her trade with southern Arabian gem merchants. Tyre got Indian stones by caravan from the coast of Oman; likewise, perhaps, by an all-caravan route. By 550 B.C Phoenician merchants had organized sea-borne trade between the head of the Red Sea and the southern coasts of Arabia and Persia.

Carthage, founded by Phoenician colonists, obtained gems (garnets, certainly; others, likely) by caravan trade from the Sahara, Sudan, and other parts of Africa. Some of these reached Rome.

The Etuscan looked to Phoenicia, ‘the mart of nations’, ‘whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers’ were the ‘honorable of the earth’, for his jewels in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. For the next 250 years the Etruscan and Roman nobles imported their jewelry from Phoenicia, Egypt, and Greece, although even at that early date they must have had some Greek artists in their midst, and Etruscans themselves eventually became master goldsmiths. By the 6th century Roman women got their jewelry from the Etruscans.

The Sabaeans of southern Arabia traded with India at least as early as 1000 B.C, nor was India the only source of gems with which these enterprising merchants were acquainted. They guarded as carefully the source of their gems from their competitors as did the Phoenicians their source of British tin. Indian products were shipped to the coast of Oman, thence by caravan to the Sabaean Kingdom (some cargoes probably arrived to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Phoenicians, and later to the Romans. Sargon of Assyria (715 B.C) received precious stones as tribute from Arabia. The prophet Ezekeil, referring to the commerce of Tyre, says: ‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants; they occupied in they fairs with chief of all spices, and with precious stones and gold.’ The Queen of Sheba, it will be remembered, gave Solomon ‘of spices very great store, and precious stones.’ Aristeas, who probably wrote in the 7th century B.C tells us that Arabian merchants brought precious stones to Italy and he clearly states that the Sabaeans acted as merchants rather than as producers of precious stones. The Kindgom of Axium also had at somewhat later date contact with India and, indeed, Rome kept friendly commerce with that kingdom to assure herself an adequate supply of Indian products. Emperor Augustus evidently became jealous of the wealth of the Nabataeans and Sabaeans, who ‘exchanged their aromatics and precious stones for silver and gold, but never expended with foreigners any part of what they received in exchange.’ In consequence, he sent a mighty punitive expedition under Aelius Gallus, a general who soon became the victim of the wiles of the Arabian chieftains and the difficulties of the desert country.

A Historical Summary Of The Ancient Commerce In Precious Stones (continued)

The Happiness Hypothesis

Good Books: In The Happiness Hypothesis, author John Haidt explains the concept + meaning of happiness, emotion and the creation of personal meaning. I think this is an insightful book that provides info on how to live a happy, fulfilled life + making a positive contribution to the world.

Useful link:
www.happinesshypothesis.com

Emerald Story

Major deposits and mining centers around the world
Colombia: The best and the most important deposits are in Colombia. Colombian emeralds are well-known for their rich green color and good texture of the stone. The most important mines in this regard are:

- The Muzo mine: Situated north west of Bogota. Emerald from this mine is renowned for its deep green color. Most of the world’s most beautiful emeralds are said to come from this mine—warm, velvety, yellowish green hue.

- The Chivor mines: Situated north east of Bogota. Also yield emeralds, fine bluish green crystals.

- Cosques and Borur mines.

Brazil: There are various deposits in Bahia, also in Goias and Minas Gerais. Stones are mostly of a yellowish green hue. Most small size and calibrated stones for commercial use come from the mines in Brazil.

Zambia: Some good quality emeralds have been retrieved from the mines in Zambia, situated close to the border with DR Congo. The color is quite distinctive and might be regarded as more or abluish green.

Zimbabwe: Most important mines in the region are those at Sandwana. Crystals are small, but of good quality, and the color is avery distinctive bright grass green.

Tranvaal (South Africa): Stones are mainly of average quality.

Tanzania: Of limited importance. Low to medium quality stones.

Madagascar: The mines yield good quality emeralds.

Pakistan: Important mine in the region is the Panjsheer mine. Medium to high quality stones have been mined in the past. Dark green to bluish green emeralds are found.

Afghanistan: The mines yield good quality emeralds.

India: Limited deposits. Famous as a cutting center, especially in the city of Jaipur.

Other mines of limited significance are found in Russia, Norway, North Carolina (USA) and Australia. Colombia still ranks as the world’s largest supplier of emeralds.

Cutting center (s) for emeralds
India: The city of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan has been a cutting center for gemstones for centuries. The timeless expertise of ancient craftsmen were passed down from one generation to the next, and the tradition continued today. Although the machines used here are not state-of-the-art when compared to other countries, the cutters here are more adept at cutting and polishing even the smallest size of emeralds. Since emeralds have limited resistance to abrasion and heat, they chip rather easily on the faceting board. Specialized skill is required which is readily available at low cost in Jaipur. Most of the stones of commercial quality are cut here.

- Emeralds are cut in other parts of the world too.

Emerald processing: cutting, faceting, polishing
The cutting of colored stones is the art of lapidary; the cutter is also known as a lapidary. Most lapidaries specialize in a certain gemstone group, so consideration can be best given to the characteristics of the stone. In the case of emeralds, the main consideration is depth of color.

Circular saws with edges impregnated diamond power are used firstly to cut the stone roughly to the required size. The faceting procedure involves mounting the stone on a hand-held dop-stick and rubbing or holding it, at appropriate angles, against a copper/carborundum wheel charged with diamond dust, which is spinning at a high speed. Polishing is done in a similar way but with the polishing medium becoming less abrasive. A great deal of technical expertise and skill is required for the job. This will only come from many years of practice at the wheel. The polishing stage gives the finished look to the emerald.

Emerald Story (continued)

Duke Ellington

(via YouTube): I am a huge fan of Duke Ellington + Jazz + and love the music.

Duke Ellington interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ApogZRsag

Perdido by Billy Taylor, Duke Ellington and Willie the Lion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCug5HG9jLg

Mae West-Duke Ellington
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeIk-f60ac

Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington-Duke's Place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ah-VwD7IEU

In God's Name

(via The Economist): John Micklethwait writes about religion + its big role in this century's politics + business (I think) other viewpoints @ http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10015255

John Micklethwait (interviewed here) asks how we should deal with it.

The 3 Tenors: Nessun Dorma

(via YouTube): The 3 tenors: Carreras -Domingo -Pavarotti
Nessun Dorma

Truly god-given voices + love the music. I enjoyed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDtcidMR_6I

Golden Boy

Anuradha Raghunathan writes about Rajesh Mehta, Chairman of Rajesh Exports Ltd, the $2 billion (revenue) company, the largest exporter of gold jewelry in India + the way he conducts business + other viewpoints @ http://members.forbes.com/global/2007/1112/118.html

Naming The Dame

Lindsay Pollock writes about the 1913 Armory Show + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/anniversary/top1.asp