Gems in the Early Modern World

It asks why people valued gems, how they determined the value of a given gem, and how the value of a gem was connected to its perceived place of origin.

1. Introduction; Michael Bycroft and Sven Dupre.- Part I. Motion.- 2. The Plundering of the Ceylonese Royal Treasury, 1551-53: its Character, Cost and Dispersal; Hugo Miguel Crespo.- 3. Diamond-studded Paths: Lines of Communication and the Trading Network of the Hellemans Family, Jewellers from Antwerp; Christina M. Anderson.- 4. The Impact of European Trade with Southeast Asia on the Mineralogical Studies of Robert Boyle; Claire Sabel.- Part II. Value.- 5. Branches and Bones: The Transformative Matter of Coral in Ming Dynasty China; Anna Grasskamp.- 6. Boethius de Boodt and Emergence of the Oriental/Occidental Distinction in European Mineralogy; Michael Bycroft.- 7. Good and Bad Diamonds in Seventeenth-century Europe; Marcia Pointon.- 8. The Repudiation and Persistence of Lapidary Medicine in Eighteenth-century Dutch Medicine and Pharmacy; Marieke Hendriksen.- Part III. Skills.- 9. Polito et Claro. The Art and Knowledge of Polishing, 1200-1500; Marjolijn Bol.- 10. Mughal Lapidaries and the Inherited Modes of Production; Taylor L. Viens.- 11. Knowledge, Technique, and Taste in Transit: Diamond Polishing in Europe, 1500-1800; Karin Hofmeester.- 12. Gems and Counterfeited Gems in Early Modern Antwerp: from Workshops to Collections; Marlise Rijks.