jubilima ([info]jubilima) wrote,
@ 2009-04-02 22:56:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Current mood: curious

Tudor pearls

I'm in love with the pearl treatment on this gable hood:



Supposedly this is a 19th century print of a Holbein drawing.  I'm not so well educated on Holbein's work, so I truly don't know if the pearls are black in the original.  I'm scouring wardrobe accounts trying to find proof of colored pearls, but I'm not having much luck.  I see entries relating to golden pearls, ragged pearls, and even glass pearls, but nothing about black pearls.

So...before my eyes cross any further, does anybody have any evidence that they were available/used?  I have the feeling that the proof will be right there in front of my face.

Of course, if anyone has a suggestion as to what else they could be besides black pearls, please say so.


(5 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]lindseyerin37
2009-04-03 04:21 am UTC (link)
I have a book called "Holbein Portrait Drawings" published by Dover and I couldn't find that one in particular, but I did find this...

http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll13/lindseyerin37/?action=view¤t=100_0286.jpg

Sorry for the terrible quality, but my scanner isn't working, so I did it with my camera. Let me know if you want more info!

(Reply to this)


[info]trystbat
2009-04-03 04:39 am UTC (link)
IIRC, either Elizabeth I or Mary Queen of Scots owned black pearls, but that was jewelry, not necessarily jeweled fabric. Can't find the reference for it right now (yo, Sarah, is it in QEWU? if not, then it's a MQoS thing & I'll hunt for it :-). That's not quite as far back as Holbein, but closer than nothin'.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]sarahbellem
2009-04-03 09:05 pm UTC (link)
Both owned a strand of black pearls... First it was Mary QOS, but Elizabeth acquired them after she took Mary prisoner in exile. I'm blanking on the portrait that shows QEI wearing them... Possibly one of the sieve portraits? Anyway, it was a long strand of approx. 10mm black pearls.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]seekatesew
2009-04-03 05:35 am UTC (link)
Are they white pearls, just shaded to stand out?

(Reply to this)


[info]myladyswardrobe
2009-04-03 09:38 am UTC (link)
Grey Pearls were seen and were available but they were, even then, deemed t be remarkable and rare. As [info]trystbat says, Mary, Queen of Scots had a rope of grey/black pearls and I think Elizabeth bought them when Mary lost her throne.

However, in the case of this image, I would say that the pearls would be small normal pearl colour. The 19th century retouching will have changed them a little bit from what Holbein originally drew.

(Reply to this)

(5 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…