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The "pearl" of Lao Tzu

The Pearl of Lao Tzu (also referred to as Pearl of Lao Tze and Pearl of Allah^[1]) is the largest known "pearl" in the world. It is not a gem quality pearl, but is instead what is known as a clam "pearl" or Tridacna "pearl" from a giant clam. It measures 24 centimeter in diameter (9.45 inches) and weighs 6.4 kilograms (14.1 lb). It is an interesting piece of natural history surrounded by extraordinary stories and legends.

While biologists would regard this object as a kind of pearl, gemologists regard it as a non-nacreous pearl, without the iridescence of pearls which come from oysters and mussels. The interior of a giant clam has no mother of pearl or nacre; instead it is porcellaneous. Because of its great size, a giant clam can spontaneously create a very large "pearl", but it cannot create an iridescent or pearly one. The GIA and CIBJO now simply use the term 'pearl' (or, where appropriate, the more descriptive term 'non-nacreous pearl') when referring to such items, rather than the term 'calcareous concretion'^[2] ^[3] and, under Federal Trade Commission rules, various mollusc pearls may be referred to as 'pearls' without qualification. ^[4]

The Pearl is not on display to the public and is currently held as part of the probate inventory of Victor M. Barbish.^[5]

The Service mark on the phrase "Pearl of Allah" has been registered July 18, 2006 by Gina Diane Barbish and Victor M. Barbish.

History

Wilburn Cobb, an American who brought the pearl from the Philippines in 1939 and owned it to his death in 1979, published an account of how he came to own it in Natural History Magazine.^[6] According to Cobb, he wanted to buy it from a Philippine tribal chief when he first heard of it in 1934, but the chief did not want to sell. However, in 1936 Cobb saved the life of the chief’s son, who was stricken with Marlaria, and was given the pearl as a token of gratitude.

In America, the pearl was exhibited at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium in New York, valued at $3.5 million.

Much later, Cobb wrote a new account in the February 1969 Mensa Bulletin, this time promoting the pearl as an artefact of Chinese legend. He alleged he had been approached by a Chinese fellow named Li, who divulged a rich mythology. In short, the pearl had first been grown in a much smaller clam around a jade amulet inserted by a disciple of legendary sage Laozi more than 2 500 years ago, and been transferred over the centuries to ever larger clams, growing to record size. Wars had been fought over the artefact, and it had been sent off to the Philippines as a protective measure, where it was lost in a storm. Also according to Cobb, Li had tried to buy the pearl from him for $3.5 million.^[7]

After Cobb’s death in 1980, Peter Hoffman and Victor Barbish bought the pearl from his estate for the much smaller sum of $200,000. Barbish has claimed to have had further contact with other Li family members over the legendary status of his pearl. (The legend of a ”Pearl of Laozi”, however, is only knows from the claims of Cobb and Barbish.)^[8]

When Victor Barbish loaned money from a Joseph Bonicelli, he gave him an interest in the pearl. In 1990, Bonicelli took Barbish to court to collect his loan, and the court ruled that Hoffman, Barbish and Bonicelli were equal partners in the pearl.^[9]

Value

Gemologist Michael Steenrod in Colorado Springs has appraised the pearl at $60 million (1982) and $93 million (2007). Another 1982 appraisal, by Lee Sparrow of the San Francisco Gem Lab, put the pearl at $42 million.

References

^ Famous Pearls
^ [1] CIBJO 'Pearl Book'
^ [2] GIA 'Gems & Gemology' magazine news archive
^ http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm
^ Probate record
^ The Pearl of Allah. Natural History, 44(4): 197-202 by Wilburn Dowell Cobb
^ http://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com
^ http://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com
^ http://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com

http://www.pearl-guide.com/famous-pearls.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhoIY5_fhsM Video of TV commentary regarding the Pearl of Allah
http://www.mysinchew.com/files/preview/292x300..08115.jpg Bottom half of clam shell on display in Brooke's Point, Palawan.

External Links

[1] Famous Pearls

[2] [1] CIBJO 'Pearl Book'

[3] [2] GIA 'Gems & Gemology' magazine news archive

[4] ttp://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/jewel-gd.shtm

[5] Probate record

[6] The Pearl of Allah. Natural History, 44(4): 197-202 by Wilburn Dowell Cobb

[7] ttp://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com

[8] ttp://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com

[9] ttp://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com

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[2]

[3]

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 The [[Service mark]] on the phrase "Pearl of Allah" has been registered July 18, 2006 by Gina Diane Barbish and Victor M. Barbish.
+==History==
-==Discovery and recent history==
-The legend of the origin is recounted by a previous owner, '''Wilburn Dowell Cobb'''.<ref name="Cobb">[http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/12464/the-pearl-of-allah Cobb's writings]</ref>According to his story, the pearl was found in a [[giant clam]] off the coast of Barangay Oring Oring, Brooke’s Point, [[Palawan]] in the Philippines<ref>[http://www.lakbaypilipinas.com/blog/2008/05/22/brookes-point-in-palawan-origin-of-worlds-biggest-pearl/ May 22nd, 2008 by Philippine Travel Blog]</ref>, on 7 May 1934 by a [[Muslim]] [[Filipino people|Filipino]] [[underwater diving|diver]]. Cobb, the son of an American mining engineer, spent his boyhood in the Philippines. There, in 1934, he met  tribal chief '''Panglima Pisi''', the then owner of the pearl. Pisi related that a diver had been seized by the jaws of a giant clam, which contained this enormous pearl, and because it resembled a turbaned head, Pisi had named it ”The Pearl of Allah”. Cobb wanted to buy the pearl, but Pisi declined, saying that nothing paid for by the sacrifice of a human life could be bought with money.
+Wilburn Cobb, an American who brought the pearl from the [[Philippines]] in 1939 and owned it to his death in 1979, published an account of how he came to own it in [[Natural History Magazine]].<ref> [http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/12464/the-pearl-of-allah The Pearl of Allah.  Natural History, 44(4): 197-202 by Wilburn Dowell Cobb]</ref> According to Cobb, he wanted to buy it from a Philippine tribal chief when he first heard of it in 1934, but the chief did not want to sell. However, in 1936 Cobb saved the life of the chief’s son, who was stricken with [[Marlaria]], and was given the pearl as a token of gratitude.
-Two years later, however, Cobb returned to the village and found Pisi’s son dying of malaria. Cobb saved his life, and was given the pearl as a token of gratitude.<ref name="Sarche">Sarche, Jon. [http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050130/news_1n30pearl.html Legendary pearl source of problems, not peace]. ''Associated Press'', January 30, 2005. Retrieved January 4, 2007.</ref>
+In America, the pearl was exhibited at the [[Ripley's Believe It or Not!]] Odditorium in New York, valued at $3.5 million.
-(There is, however, speculation that this episode may not be true. It is claimed by descendants of Chief Pisi that it was actually given to Cobb to be sold to a buyer and he just never came back.) <ref>[http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20071016-94689/The_mysteries_around_Pearl_of_Allah Oct. 2007 article BROOKE’S POINT, Palawan, Philippines]</ref>
+Much later, Cobb wrote a new account in the February 1969 [[Mensa]] Bulletin, this time promoting the pearl as an artefact of Chinese legend. He alleged he had been approached by a Chinese fellow named Li, who divulged a rich mythology. In short, the pearl had first been grown in a much smaller clam around a jade amulet inserted by a disciple of legendary sage [[Laozi]] more than 2 500 years ago, and been transferred over the centuries to ever larger clams, growing to record size. Wars had been fought over the artefact, and it had been sent off to the Philippines as a protective measure, where it was lost in a storm. Also according to Cobb, Li had tried to buy the pearl from him for $3.5 million.<ref>http://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com</ref>
-In 1939, Cobb returned to America. In New York City the pearl was authenticated as a [[Tridacna]] pearl or clam pearl by Dr. Roy Waldo Miner of the [[American Museum of Natural History]]. Cobb published an account of the story in Natural History Magazine in 1939. <ref> [http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/12464/the-pearl-of-allah The Pearl of Allah.  Natural History, 44(4): 197-202 by Wilburn Dowell Cobb]</ref>
+After Cobb’s death in 1980, Peter Hoffman and Victor Barbish bought the pearl from his estate for the much smaller sum of $200,000. Barbish has claimed to have had further contact with other Li family members over the legendary status of his pearl. (The legend of a ”Pearl of Laozi”, however, is only knows from the claims of Cobb and Barbish.)<ref>http://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com</ref>
-'''Victor Barbish''' learned of the pearl in the 1970s and offered to buy it from Cobb for $5 million, but was refused. A year later Barbish and his partners Henry Kyle, Robert Pease, [[Johnny Weissmuller]] and [[Rudy Vallee]] offered Cobb $10 million, but Cobb again rejected the offer, saying the pearl was priceless and could not be bought at any cost. Eventually, though, after Cobb's death on November 1, 1979, Barbish did manage to buy the pearl.
+When Victor Barbish loaned money from a Joseph Bonicelli, he gave him an interest in the pearl. In 1990, Bonicelli took Barbish to court to collect his loan, and the court ruled that Hoffman, Barbish and Bonicelli were equal partners in the pearl.<ref>http://www.pearl-guide.com/the-pearl-of-allah.shtml Caitlin Williams & Kathie Hodson: ”The Pearl of Allah: the Facts, the Fiction and the Fraud”, Pearl-Guide.com</ref>
-According to stories Barbish tells about the pearl, in 1983 he was approached by a Chinese man of [[Li_(李)|Li]] heritage who supposedly knew legends about a ”Pearl of [[Laozi]]”. Li wondered wether this might be the legendary pearl, and Barbish arranged for him to see it. Viewing it, Li felt strongly that it was indeed the ”Pearl of Laozi” and offered to buy it from Barbish, who did not want to sell. According to Barbish, Li was happy just to have seen it, and returned to China, never to be heard from again. {{Fact|date=June 2007}} {{Or}}
+==Value==
-More recently, the Pearl was appraised on January 17, 2007 for $61,850,000. However, the appraisal contradicts earlier appraisals and has not been generally accepted. <ref>[http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14136&postcount=100 Analysis of the Pearl of Allah Appraisal]</ref>
+Gemologist Michael Steenrod in Colorado Springs has appraised the pearl at $60 million (1982) and $93 million (2007). Another 1982 appraisal, by Lee Sparrow of the San Francisco Gem Lab, put the pearl at $42 million.
-==Chinese legend of the pearl==
-[[Image:Pearlhands.jpg|thumb|right|The Pearl of Lao Tzu]] [[Image:Poabackside.jpg|thumb|right|Underside of The Pearl of Lao Tzu]]
+==References==
-According to [[Chinese legend]], and stated from China's highly respected Li (Lee) family,<ref name="lee"> [http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19980703/18450514.html Lee - the largest surname in the world].</ref>
-the pearl has great spiritual meaning and a fathomless origin.
-In 1939, while The Pearl was on display in [[Ripley's Believe It or Not!#Museums|Robert Ripley's Museum]] in New York, an elderly Hong Kong merchant named Mr. Lee, requested permission to come to the museum to examine The Pearl.  Both Wilburn Cobb, the owner of the pearl at that time, and Ripley agreed to Mr. Lee's visit.  Mr. Lee, a direct descendant of Lao-Tse, held the pearl in his hands.  He examined the pearl with intense scrutiny, and then tears began flowing from the man's eyes.  When he regained his composure he acknowledged that the jewel was the long-lost Pearl of [[Lao Tzu]] that disappeared in a typhoon.
-Mr. Lee told the factual history of The Pearl, heard many times from his elders.  He told Mr. Cobb that when his ancient ancestor, Lao Tzu, became very old he was weary of the unceasing evils of mankind, and he resolved to spend his final years far from civilization.  As he prepared to depart, he handed to a nephew a small amulet upon which the philosopher had carved representations of the faces of Buddha, Confucius and himself - the historical Three Friends.  It was Lao Tzu's original mission of creation to find a path and way for peace.  He told his nephew to place the amulet securely in a clam and wait four years.  Doing as he was told would bring great wealth and fortune to his family, and so it did.  The Li family amassed great fortunes as successful merchants.  Lao Tzu, also a naturalist, provided his nephew with a method to prevent the clam's rejection of such an intrusion.  Lao Tzu's instructions were to start the legendary pearl that would symbolize Lao Tzu's "WAY" of life.  Thus the pearl, containing its sacred amulet, was handed down from generation to generation growing larger and larger as it was transplanted into ''Tridacna'' clams of ever increasing size until the pearl reached its present size.
-Legend tells how a bowl of vinegar was given to Confucius, Buddha and Lao Tzu. Confucius tasted the vinegar and said it tasted sour.  Buddha said it was bitter, and Lao Tzu said it tasted sweet.  There will always be opposites of taste and opinion in all human beings.  The pearl has engravings and symbols of all three men, opposites in taste but whose purpose united in one symbol to be an example of how to learn to live respectfully and united harmoniously for peace.
-The Pearl of Lao Tzu is said to have influenced China's history.  During the waning years of the Sui Dynasty, a direct descendant of Lao Tzu, named Lee, the proprietor of the pearl at the time, was awakened one night by a tapping on his front gate.  Opening it he was greeted by a young boy about ten years of age that was in need of shelter and food.  He stayed at Lee's home, and on the third day, Lee had a dream in which the pearl spoke to him.  The message: "He whom you are protecting is one who will make his father the first Emperor of a new Dynasty and will himself become the real power behind the throne.  In time he himself will become the second Emperor.  It will be a reign distinguished by a more humane attitude than has prevailed heretofore.  But the boy must proceed with caution."  The message came from the three sages in the Pearl.  Lee swore the boy to secrecy, showed him the pearl, telling him of its beginning, and recounting the dream and the message that had come to him as he slept.  The boy's name was [[Emperor Taizong of Tang|Li Shih-Min]], the son of [[Emperor Gaozu of Tang|Li Yuan]], Duke of Tang.  The boy listened and believed, and modeled his life so that in 618 A.D. Li Shih-Min's father, Li Yuan, became Emperor T'ang Kao Tsu, the first Li Emperor.  Li Shih-Min in 627 A.D. became Emperor T'ang T'ai Tsung, and the world's recognized founder of the great [[Tang Dynasty]]
-The Emperor T'ang T'ai Tsung returned one more time to visit Lee to not only thank the man who took him in and communicated the Pearl's message - words which conveyed his family into royalty - but to have Lee's blessing for the selection of an artist to paint the great pearl.  The aging Lee gave his permission and recommended a young artist.  The resulting work was of such character that paper rubbings of the pearl became popular as New Year's greetings between friends and loved ones.  One such rubbing, although of reduced quality due to age, has been preserved in the Li family archives.
-As wars were fought over possession of this pearl the Lee family decided to hide it by shipping the pearl to Palawan, Philippines and keeping it inside a giant clam which was held close to the shore by a net.  A typhoon during the Ming dynasty tore the pearl and the clam away from the netting and it was lost.
-==The legends examined==
-The Pearl of Allah (or the Pearl of Lao Tzu) is a pearl from ''Tridacna gigas'', the giant clam. The giant clam is [[Sessility (zoology)|sessile]]; it must remain attached to a single surface its entire life. The giant clam has never been successfully grafted. In order for the legend to be true, the amulet would have to have been grafted into the mollusk. It is unknown whether this is possible with this particular species. Furthermore, although the Chinese invented perliculture in the 12th century AD, only mabe pearl production was understood and conducted until the 20th century, when the Mise/Nishikawa method was invented and adopted by [[Kokichi Mikimoto]]. The Pearl of Allah is a whole pearl, not a mabe.
-==References==
 {{reflist}}
@@ Line 51: / Line 31: @@
 * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhoIY5_fhsM Video of TV commentary regarding the Pearl of Allah
 * http://www.mysinchew.com/files/preview/292x300..08115.jpg Bottom half of clam shell on display in Brooke's Point, Palawan.
+==External Links==
 * http://www.imperial-deltah.com/education/famous_pearls.htm <!-- Verified: one of the oldert Pearl dealers in the USA. Worked with most famous movie stars since the 1930's. One of the most exclusive brand names. Can safely assume they would have sufficient knowledge for a topic like this. -->