gems, olivine, peridot, chrysolite, antique jewelry, Baroque jewelry

Examines the origin of the large peridots used in European Baroque jewellery during the later seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In the author’s earlier conference account, microscopic examination of treasury objects, particularly a jewel box made in Augsburg around 1670 and preserved in St Vitus Cathedral, Prague, revealed inclusions arranged along successive crystal-growth zones. These strongly favour Zabargad Island in the Red Sea over the basalt-associated deposits at Kozákov in Bohemia. Hyršl suggests that renewed, possibly short-lived exploitation of Zabargad supplied central Europe during the seventeenth century. Relevant to historical gemstone provenance and trade.