| Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
Art Reviews From our Archives |
September 2004 |
Pearls - A Natural History runs at the ROM in Toronto until January 9, 2005
By Alidė Kohlhaas
It never occurred to me that by going to the Royal Ontario Museum to look at a display of the world's most exquisite natural jewel, the pearl, I would learn that within easy reach of my daily life, pearly mussels can be found. We tend to think of the pearl as something coming from the Orient, from Japan or the Southern seas, not Ontario. Yet, the province is home to many species of pearly mussels. But, more about that later.
The ancient Romans believed that pearls were the frozen tears of their gods, while the ancient Greeks thought that lightning strikes on the sea created these sought-after gems. In somewhat more modern times, that is to around AD 700, European scholars believed that pearls were solidified dewdrops, captured by clams. These are romantic images, but an extensive exhibition about one of mankind's most desired objects reveals a very different tale. Pearls, a Natural History is on display at the ROM until January 9, 2005, and it is worth the time it takes to really absorb what it has to offer.
This is not a show you walk through. This is a show where you really have to take a close look at the many objects to appreciate not only the beauty of what is on display, but also what it takes to create a pearl in all its many varieties. There is a misconception that pearls come only in white. This show very quickly dispels this notion.
Imagine looking at a 50-million-year-old pearl found encased in fossilized mud in England that still has all of its luster, or at a 100-million-year-old fossil of a now extinct mollusc shell called an ammonite from Madagascar that shimmers in multiple colors as if just found. It is such . . .
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