Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-07-22
RARE SPECIMENS ouLLEcTED
Blythe WORLDS lloNARCHs.
Fabulous Treasures of the Oriental
Courts-The Peacock Throne
Set With $50, ,cO0,O 900
Worth Of Gems.

rich store of gems, many of them rare
{, n curious. The Maharajah of Baroda
D lid S1OO, 600 for the l25-carat Star
O. the South, and also bought the 225-
carat pale yellow De Beers diamond
exhibited at the 1889 Exposition.
According to the testimony OF s. G.
W. Benjamin, at one time United
States Minister to Persia, the late
Shah had very remarkable collec.
lion of gems, estimated to be worth
between $40, 900, 900 and $15, 900, 900,
but it is almost impossible to get ro-
liable information about them, so
closely are they guarded. The same
may be said of the Sultan OF Turkeys
collection, valued at over $10,0O0,-
900.
When tho English took possession
of the palace Of King TheeEaw at
Mandalay. Burmah, they searched
eagerly for the fabulous treasures
which it was supposed this Oriental
monarch possessed. They were doomed
to disappointment. Nothing of any
special value was found, the iar-famed
jewels consisting of miscellaneous
lot of poor emeralds and rubies. Many
of them were of large size, but SO in
ferior in quality that the English re-
gala could not be enriched by adding
any of them, So little are they valued
that they are now exhibited in glass
cases in the Indian Museum in Lon
don. .
OF all the costly wonders chat the
palace of the Mogul Emperors at Delhi
contained, the most wonderful and
the most costly was the peacock throne.
This was constructed during the reign
of Shah Jehan, and was the work of o
Frenchmen, Austin, OF Bordeaux, who
had sought refuge at the Mogul's court.
1t was estimated that the value of the
throne was 6,000,00 sterling. 1t
stood in the centre of the beautiful
Hall of Private Audience, and was
named after the figures of two pea
cocks standing behind it, their tails
leing expanded. and the whole SO in
laid with sapphires, rubies, emeralds,
pearls and other precious stones of
appropriate colors as to represent life.
The throne itself was six feet long by
four feet wide; it stood on six massive
feet, which, with the body, we're OF
solid gold inlaid with rubies, emcralds,
and diamonds. 1t was surmounted by
o canopy OF gold supported by twelve
pillars, oil richly emblazoned with
costly gems, and fringe of pearls
ornamented the border of the canopy.
Between the two peacocks stood the
figure of parrot of ordinary size,
said to have been carved cut of sim
gle emerald. On each side of the throne
stood IN umbrella, one of the Oriental
emblems of royalty. They were formed
of crimson velvet thickly embroidered
and fringed with pearls, the handles,
eight feet high, being Of gold studded
with diamonds. 1t has been held that
the famous Kohinoor was one of tie
Jewels that ornamented the THRONE,
and as this diamond, now in possession
OF Victoria, was owned by Shah Jehan,
the story may be true. When Delhi
was sacked by the Persians under Nadir
Shah in 1879 the throne was plundered
of its jewels, broken up and carried
away, with S75O,000,000 of loot. A
block of white marble now marks the
spot where it once stood.
Catherine II. and Peter the Great Of
Russia were lovers of precious stones,
and collected fine examples of the
jewelers. art, which are preserved,
together with other precious relics in
the Kremlin in the Ouregena Palata,
at Moscow. Here arc thrones studded
with diamonds, rubies, turquoises,
pearls, emeralds and sapphires; an
orb containing ruby weighing forty
nine carats, and swords and scimitars
thickly studded with gems. heiewels
proper, which are enclosed in cases,
include workmanship of Renaissance,
Byzantine ard Persian handiwork, all
by master hands. The wealth of gems
used is amazing. Stones cut eud un-
cut, some of the largest size, snine in
these regalia. Most wonderful of oil
is the coronation crown of Catherine
l., made especially for her by order
of Peter the Great. There are 1858
diamonds in this crown, and over the
prow is a magnificent ruby. In Sc
parate case are placed all the jewels
worn by the Empress and Grand
Duchesses on state occasions; and
among diamonds the gems galore is q
very large pink diamond which be-
longed to Peter the Great. In state
silver and gold ware this collection is
unsurpassed, and her monarchs have
been purchasing continuously for
three centuries, and never selling their
possessions.
Probably the moro luxurious and
resplendent mirror is now in the
Louvre, Paris, originally possessed by
Queen Marie de Medici. 1t is of rock
crystal. and the frame was of polished
agate set in q network of enamelled
gold. This was but tho inner frame.
The outer one was composed entirely
of precious stones, consisting of sar
donyx, jasper. rubies. emeralds and
diamonds. When the inventory of the
crown diamonds was taken in 1871 by
order of the National Assembly, this
work of art was valued at $50, 900. cit
is now in the Louvre.
The English royal collection has
been gradual growth. The present
repository of the English regalia Is the
Tower of London. After the execu-
tion of Charles I. some of the older
objects were broken up and dispersed,
and at the restoration it was necessary
to reconstruct many of them for the
Kings coronation. Nearly all the his
torical pieces date no further beck
than the time of Charles II. The an.
cient regalia comprises two crowns. on