Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-31
ROYALTY'S PRECIOUS STONES
The Crown Jewels of European and Asiatic
Monarchs.
FABULOUS TREASURES OF THE ORIENT
Jewels of the Late Shah worth VIII
Iions-wondcrfu1 Peacock throne
of the MoguI Emperors-
Famous Collections.

Copyright. 1896. by the Author)
| Large gems have always had great
charm to the oriental and they have always
| paid more for them than the Europeans. the
orient hides within her jealously-guarded
palaces many fine collections Of jewels Ihe
| Nizam Of Hyderabad owns the Victoria dia-
mond for which he paid S2,OOO,OOO. Ihe
mabaraiah of Tagore is likewise possessed
of a rich store of gems, many OF them rare
and curious. The maharajah Of Baroda paid
500 900 for the 1875 carat Star OF the SOUTH
and also bought the 225 carat pale yellow
De Beers diamond exhibited at the 1889 eX-
position.
| According to the testimony of United
| states Minister S. G.. w. Benjamin the late
shah of Persia had very remarkable col
| ,ection of gems, estimated to be worth be-
| tween $40, 900 and S15,OOOOOO, but 1t is
almost impossible to get reliable Information
about them, so closely are they guarded
| The same may be said Of the sultan OF Tur-
keys collection valued at over $lo,ooo,ooo'
| When the English took possession OF the
| palace of King Theebaw at Mandaiay, Bur
| nah, they searched eagerly for the fabulous
| treasures, which 1t was supposed this ori-
| entail monarch possessed. They were doomed
| to disappointment. Nothing Of any special
value. was found, the far-famed jewels con-
sisting of a miscellaneous lot OF poor emer.
| aids and rubies Many OF them were OF
| large size but so inferior in quality that the
English regalia could not be enriched by
| adding any of them. So little are they valued
! that they are now exhibited in simple glass
| cases in the Indian museum in London.
l. Many of these Oriental collections, accord
| ing to Sir Edwin Arnold and other Oriental
! travellers. are kept in isolated rooms Some
| times the gems are wrapped in rags or con-
| cealed in ginger jars old boxes ana out-ol-
| the-way places, 80 that even an intimate
| visitor may be a guest for weeks ana only
| occasionally see a jewel, and only when ne
has the entire confidence of his host are the
treasures gradually shown one at time
PEACOCK THRONE OF THE MOGULS.
| OF all the costly wonders that 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 a Frenchman, Austin, OF Bordeaux,
who had sought refuge at the moguls court.
Ii was estimated that the value OF the
| throne f6,OOO,OOO sterling: II $1,000 IN
the center of the beautiful Hall Of Private
| Audience" so called from its having the
| figures Of two peacocks standing behind II,
| their tails being expanded, and the who're
| so inlaid with saphires, rubies, emeralds,
| pearls and other precious stones OF appro-
| nriate colors as to represent life. The
| throne itself was six feet long by TOUR
| feet wide; it stood on six massive feet,
| which, with the body, were OF solid goid IN
laid with rubes, emeralds and diamonds. IL
| was surmounted by canopy OF gold sup
ported by twelve pillars, all richly EN-.
blazoned with costly gems, and fringe Oh
| pearls ornamented the border OF the canopy
| Between the two peacocks STOOD a nsure ot
| a parrot of ordinary size, said TO nave peeh
| carved out of single emerald. On each slde
| umbrella, one OF the
Oriental emblems of royalty. They were
formed of crimson velvet thickly embroidered
and, fringed with pearls, the handles, elght
feet high being Of gold studded with dia-
| nonds. 1t has been held that the famous
| Kohinoor was one Of the jewels that orna-
| mented the throne; and as this diamond,
now in possession Of Victoria, was owned py
Shah Jehan, the story may be true. when
Delhi was sacked by the Perslans unoer
| Nadir Shah, in 1899, the throne was
| nlundered of its Jewels broken up and car
r,ed away. with $3.50, 900 900 Of loot A block
ne white marble now marks the spot where
it once stood
RUSSIAN GEMS.
Catherine II and Peter the Great OF Russia
were lovers of precious stones, and collected
fine samples of the jewelers. art, which are
preserved, together with other precious relics
in the Kremlin in the Ouregena Palata, at
MOSCOW Here are thrones studded with
diamonds, rubies. turquoises. pearls, emer-
aids and supphires; an orb containing ruby
| 'weiehinp forty-nine carats, and swords and
scimitars thickly studded with gems. The
Jewels proper, which are enclosed in cases,
include workmanship of renaissance, Byzan-
tine and Persian handiwork, all by master
hands The wealth of gems used rs amazing.
Stones cut and uncut, some OF the largest
size shine in these regalia. Most wonderful
OF AL is the coronation crown Of Catherine
T made especially for her by order OF Peter
the Great There are 2,35S diamonds in this
crown, and over the brow Is magnificent
ruby In a separate case are placed all the
Jewels worn by the empress and grand
duchesses on state occasions; and among
diamonds and gems galore is very large
pink diamond, which belonged to Peter the
Great In state silver and gold-ware TINS
collection is unsurpassed, and her monarchs
have been purchasing continuously for three
centuries, and never selling their possess
sions.
FRENCH CROWN JEWELS
In France Louis XIV and LOUIS XIV took
particular interest in this subject. 1t was
at the suggestion of the former that Taver-
nier the great traveller made his search for
gems in so many countries Of the world and
unearthed the ''blue diamond" as a part OF
his tireless exploration.
In 1885 the French crown jewels were sold
at public auction by order OF the govern
ment, realizing some 100000 francs. These
Jewels included all but two OF the MaZarin
diamonds and many gems worn by the un-
fortunate Marie Antoinette About one-tnird
Of the entire amount auctioned of were pur-
chased by one American. The great Regent
diamond was not sold; this and two MaZarin
diamonds are now exhibition In case
| in the Galerie d. Apollon In the Louvre,
! Probably the more luxurious and resplendent
mirror Il, now in the Louvre originally pes
sessed by Queen Marie de Medici. 1t Is Of
rock crystal and the frame was OF polished
agate set in network of enameled gold. Thls
was but the inner frame. The outer one
was composed entirely Of precious stones
consisting of sardonyx, jasper, rubies en-
eralds and diamonds. When the inventory
of the crown diamonds was taken In l!el
by order of the National Assembly. ths
, superb work of art valued at 10000
francs, and is now in the Louvre.
THE ENGLISH ROYAL COLLECTION.
The English royal collection has been a
gradual growth. The present repository of
the English regalia is the Tower OF London
After the execution of Charles ] some OF the
older objects were broken up and dispersed
and at the restoration 1t was necessary 10
reconstruct many OF them for the King
| coronation Nearly all the historical pieces
date no further back than the time OF
Charles III. -
The ancient regala comprises two crowns.
| an orb a scepter with a cross, a scepter win
! a dove a long scepter of gold, ring With