THE HAGUE, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The largest freshwater pearl on earth, called "Sleeping Lion Pearl" due to its natural shape, was purchased for 320,000 euros (373,364 U.S. dollars, excluding premium) by a Japanese art dealer during an auction in the Hague on Thursday. The projected price was estimated to be between 340,000 and 540,000 euros.
The Sleeping Lion Pearl originates from China, where it grew in a freshwater oyster during the first half of the 18th century. It measures approximately 70 x 43 x 39 mm and weighs 118.65 grams. The auction house, Venduehuis, cited the English journal The Journal of Gemmology classifying it as the largest freshwater pearl in the world.
The pearl was shipped to Batavia [former name for Jakarta, Indonesia] by a Dutch merchant of the United East Indies Company (VOC in Dutch) in around 1765. There, Hendrik Coenraad Sander, the VOC's accountant, became the first European to own the pearl. In 1778 it was acquired by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.
In 1865, goldsmith Lodewijk Willem van Kooten, who was working in Rome for the Italian court jeweler Castellani at the time, bought the pearl. In 1867, Van Kooten returned to Amsterdam and for four generations, this pearl remained in possession of this famous Dutch family of jewelers.
The Amsterdam Pearl Society bought the pearl in 1979 intending to research it and trace its history. After almost 40 years, the Society decided to auction the pearl at the Venduehuis in The Hague.
Now it seems that the Amsterdam Pearl Society is satisfied with the sale. "It is like letting go of a child: you want to be sure it lands safely on its feet. The Sleeping Lion Pearl is a unique object of great historical value. It deserves a good home in a specialist collection or in a museum," it stated.
