baroque pearl

baroque pearl

      pearl that is irregularly or oddly shaped. Pearl formation does not always occur in soft-tissue areas, where the expanding pearl sac grows regularly because it encounters no appreciable resistance. Pearl cysts are sometimes lodged in muscular tissue, for example, where, unable to overcome the resistance of tough muscle fibres, they assume irregular or unusual shapes.

      Baroque pearls were highly prized by Renaissance jewelers, who saw them not as misshapen products of sea mollusks but rather as unique and exquisite natural forms. They were often used in pieces of jewelry to form the bodies of figures. A superb example is a piece from the 16th century known as the Canning Jewel (Victoria and Albert Museum, London), in which a large baroque pearl is used for the torso of a sea figure having the body of a man and the tail of a fish, the whole mounted in enameled gold set with pearls, rubies, and diamonds. See also pearl.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Baroque pearl — or ovoid.Akoya pearls (commonly known as cultured saltwater pearls) can also be baroque, but the baroque shape of an akoya pearl differs from that of a freshwater pearl. This is because akoya pearls are bead nucleated; they have a perfectly… …   Wikipedia

  • Baroque (disambiguation) — Baroque may refer to:*the Baroque period of the 17th century. ** Baroque architecture ** Baroque music ** Baroque painting ** Baroque sculpture * Baroque pearl, a pearl of an irregular shapeIn popular culture:* Baroque chess, a chess variant *… …   Wikipedia

  • pearl — pearl1 pearler, n. pearlish, adj. pearllike, adj. /perrl/, n. 1. a smooth, rounded bead formed within the shells of certain mollusks and composed of the mineral aragonite or calcite in a matrix, deposited in concentric layers as a protective… …   Universalium

  • Pearl — /perrl/, n. 1. a town in central Mississippi. 20,778. 2. a female given name. * * * I Concretion formed by a mollusk and consisting of the same material (called nacre, or mother of pearl) as the mollusk s shell. Long treasured as gemstones,… …   Universalium

  • Baroque period — (17th–18th century) Era in the arts that originated in Italy in the 17th century and flourished elsewhere well into the 18th century. It embraced painting, sculpture, architecture, decorative arts, and music. The word, derived from a Portuguese… …   Universalium

  • baroque — I. adjective Usage: often capitalized Etymology: French, from Middle French barroque irregularly shaped (of a pearl), from Portuguese barroco irregularly shaped pearl Date: 1765 1. of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • baroque —    (bah ROHK) [French, from Portuguese: a rough pearl] Characteristic of a 17th century European style of art and architecture, notable for its extravagant ornamentation and theatrical effects. Of or resembling music of the period after the… …   Dictionary of foreign words and phrases

  • Baroque — art redirects here. Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc. In the arts, the Baroque (pronounced /bə rɒk/) was a Western cultural epoch, commencing roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy.… …   Wikipedia

  • Pearl hunting — or pearl diving refers to a now largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre producing creatures, such as abalone.HistoryBefore the beginning of the 20th century,… …   Wikipedia

  • Baroque —    Baroque is a style of art and architecture of the early seventeenth to mid eighteenth century, characterized by elaborate ornamentation, curved lines, and enormous size. The Oxford English Dictionary says the style pays tribute to Francesco… …   Dictionary of eponyms

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