Tahitian pearl
The Tahitian pearl is a pearl obtained from stocks of the black-lipped pearl oyster ( Pinctada margaritifera cumingii ) in French Polynesia .
Appearance and occurrence
Their natural color varies between anthracite and black , their natural size between that of a pea and that of an almond. The natural range of the mussel from which the pearl is extracted are the Austral , Society and Marquesas Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago . It is now grown in Polynesian lagoons.
history
The pearl mussel, which occurs frequently in the lagoons of the Polynesian atolls , was used in pre-colonial Polynesia to weigh down fishing nets, to manufacture household appliances and to decorate ornaments. However, the pearl itself was only used as jewelry in Tahiti . 2–3 pearls were woven into 5–8 cm long earrings made from braided hair. The earrings were worn by both sexes, but mainly women, who were forbidden to wear jewelry made from bird feathers. In addition to shark teeth and flowers, it was also used as jewelry on long ribbons, which were worn by women during dances, and as a religious offering. The first European visitors to the South Seas became aware of the pearls, and at the end of the 18th century Tahitian earrings found their way into European museums, such as Cambridge and Göttingen .
The commercial exploitation of the pearl by Europeans and Americans began in the early 19th century. The pearls aroused the interest of European merchants and conquerors because the pearl oyster stocks in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Caribbean were exhausted at the beginning of the 19th century, but the stocks in Australia and Indonesia had not yet been discovered. The first commercial pearl delivery to Europe took place in 1802, and since around 1820 pearls have been exploited on a large scale. The pearl divers were mostly Europeans who had traveled there and were rewarded with rifles, knives, clothing, food and alcohol. Merchant ships brought the barter goods to Tahiti and left again laden with pearls. Because the ships were unarmed, they were sometimes ambushed and robbed by locals. The mussels were mostly harvested from dinghies in the lagoons; a crew of thirty men in three dinghies could harvest up to a ton of mussels in one day. In 1839 900 tons and in 1862 1000 tons of mussels were harvested. The price for a ton in London in 1862 was the equivalent of 13 Louis d'or . About one pound of pearls could be extracted from 20 tons of oysters, the proceeds of which amounted to 100 Louis d'or. Fishing posed a high health risk for pearl divers: hand injuries and deafness, and sometimes mental illness, were the consequences.
With the commercial pearl trade of the Europeans, the pearl was increasingly used as a medium of exchange among the Polynesians. At the beginning of the 19th century, a double-hulled boat drove from Tahiti to the Tuamotu Archipelago once or twice a year , bringing axes and stones from the basalt, which does not occur in Tuamotu, and exchanging them for pearls. In Tahiti, the pearls were also used to pay debts and to repay military service. The Tahitians also began as the first Polynesians to use the metal introduced by the Europeans to pierce the pearls, the first metal they used for this was nails from sunken ships. Through the pearl trade, the metal introduced by the Europeans spread to the Polynesian islands. The Tahitian royal family tried to control the pearl trade on the Polynesian side. In 1825 the regent Pomaré IV. Vahine had pearl exports taxed; Ships that refused to pay the tax were persecuted and enraged.
The natural pearl stocks were largely exhausted in 1880. Hurricanes, which occurred frequently at this time, however, blew wood, stones and coconut tree stumps into the lagoons and provided the mussels with a new nutritional basis. Pearls have been grown in the lagoons of French Polynesia since the beginning of the 20th century. Today, plastic garlands are first laid out in the lagoons, where the larvae of the mussel collect. After two to three years of growth, the pearls are harvested.
Polynesian mythology
In one of the Polynesian creation stories, Tane, the creator of the world and god of harmony and beauty, brings light into the world in pearls. The pearls inspire him with their shape and their shine to create the stars. After lighting up the sky with the stars, Tane gives the pearls to Rua Hatu, god of the ocean, so that he can use them to illuminate his realm. The god of war and peace, Oro, who is closely associated with Tane, uses pearls to woo an earthly woman he covets : He hands her the two pearls poe rava (peacock green) and poe konini , the pearl with circular grooves that indicate the origin remember the pearl from the star Saturn. After his recruitment was successful and he and his beloved had offspring, he gave the pearl mussel Te Ufi to the people as a reminder of his presence on earth, since then it has lived in the Polynesian lagoons. Okana and Uaro , the spirits of corals and sand, then decorate Te Ufi with a dress in all the colors of the fish of the ocean. This is how the iridescent layers of mother-of-pearl are created .