Margariteae Imperf, c1745-1807

Description

Glass jar containing a single imperfect specimen of pearl from the oyster Avicula margaritifera. From the Burges Collection.

Text on paper labels reads ‘Catal. Mat. Med. p. 116. No. 60’ and ‘MARGARITAE IMPERF.’

Nicolas Lemery says that ‘All Pearl is esteem’d cordial, proper against Infection, to recruit and restore lost Spirits; but their chief Virtue is to destroy and kill the Acids, as other Alcalies do, and likewise to correct the Acrimony of the Stomach. Pomet adds that ‘The Ladies of Quality use the fine ground Powder of it, to give a Lustre and Beauty to the Face’