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Decorations: Paris
In the thirteenth century the commerce of precious stones was almost exclusively in the hands of the Jews, but it was difficult to prevent fraud. A vast number of false jewels were manufactured in Europe, especially at Paris, where severe laws were made against such counterfeits. Among other regulations, "the jeweller was not to dye the amethyst, or other false stones, nor mount them in gold leaf nor other colour, nor mix them with rubies, emeralds, or other precious stones, excepting as a crystal simply without mounting or dyeing."
The workman was not to mount together Scottish pearls and those of the East. Except in works for the Church, he was not, even for trifling objects, to mingle coloured glass, or false, with precious stones, nor mount in gold and silver fraudulent gems, except for the king, the queen, and their children. Matthew Paris describes the magnificent display of jewellery on the occasion of the wedding of Isabella, second daughter of King John, with the Emperor Frederic of Germany in 1235:--"A crown was made for the princess, of the most cunning workmanship, of the purest and finest gold, adorned with precious stones. In rings and necklaces of gold, set with gems, in caskets and trappings, and other feminine ornaments, in copious treasury of gold and silver, . . . which ravished the eyes of the beholder with delight." This account of the chronicler is fully borne out by documentary evidence. An extravagance for jewels is shown, during the fourteenth century, in the example of Isabella, queen of Edward II., who seems to have had a passionate weakness in this respect. The list of her jewels is given in one of the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. The total amount expended on these luxuries was no less than pound 1,399, equivalent to about pound 16,000 of our present currency. The more costly of these ornaments were purchased of Italian merchants. In a general entry of a payment of pound 421 are included items of a chaplet of gold, set with "bulays" (rubies), sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and pearls, price pound 105; divers pearls, pound 87; a crown of gold, set with sapphires, rubies of Alexandria, and pearls, price pound 80; etc. Of jewels in the possession of females, we may instance those belonging to Alice Perrers, the favourite of Edward III. He had made her a present of those that belonged to his deceased queen, and upon the confiscation of her property, in 2 Richard II., according to an inedited document in the British Museum, the number and value of her pearls and precious stones were found to be as follows:-- pound s. d. 530 pearls, each at 1s. 8d. 50 0 0 1,700 pearls, each at 1s. 10d. 70 19 8 5,940 precious stones, each at 1s. 5d. 123 15 0 1,800 precious stones, each at 1s. 4d. 30 0 0 2,000 precious stones, each at 1s. 4d. 33 6 8 1,380 precious stones, each at 1s. 6d. 34 10 0 500 precious stones, each at 1s. 2d. 4 3 4 3,948 precious stones, each at 1s. 3d. 49 7 0 4,000 precious stones, each at 1s. 1 1/2d. 25 0 0 30 ounces of pearls, valued in gross at 50 0 0 The value of a great proportion of these shows that they were chiefly used in "broidering." The Scotch pearl, according to the statutes of the Parisian goldsmiths, was unfit for setting with oriental pearls, except in great church jewels. Pearls were sold upon strings.
Richard II. was, perhaps, the greatest fop of his day. He had one coat estimated at 30,000 marks, the value of which must have arisen from the precious stones with which it was adorned.
About the middle of the fourteenth century, there was hardly a female, who could be styled a gentlewoman, that had not in her house some portion of the spoils of furniture, silk, plate, or jewels, from Caen, Calais, or the cities beyond the sea; and those who, like the knight of Chaucer, had been at Alexandria "when it was won" by Peter, King of Cyprus, returned with great riches in cloth of gold, velvets, and precious stones. In France, at this period, great luxury in dress prevailed; gold and silver glittered on the garments, and precious stones became very costly, from the immense demand for them. The ladies, at this time, wore wreaths of flowers, or jewels, in their hair. Isabella, Queen of Charles VI., according to Brantome, brought to France a taste for pomp and sumptuousness that exceeded everything known in that country. The dresses of the ladies were resplendent with jewels, and those of the gentlemen fell little short. The latter wore a sort of jewelled cushion in their hair.