500,000 pearls featured in Milwaukee Public Museum exhibition

Largest collection of coveted gems
includes stunning jewelry and decorative art

THE MYSTERY, BEAUTY, LORE and legends surrounding one of the most coveted gems in human history are being told through June 26 at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

“Pearls: A Natural History presented by M&I Bank” is the largest and most comprehensive collection of pearls ever assembled. Brought to the Museum at 800 W. Wells St. through the support of M&I Bank, the exhibition is making its last U.S. appearance before traveling to the National Science Museum in Japan and the Natural History Museum of London.

“Throughout human history pearls have been associated with the world’s elite and captured the imagination of kings, poets, movie stars and scientists,” said Michael Stafford, Museum president and CEO.  “Visitors will be captivated by the science and mesmerized by the stunning jewels and decorative art.”

Organized by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, in collaboration with The Field Museum of Chicago, the exhibition features 500,000 pearls set in nearly 500 pieces of jewelry and decorative art assembled from collections around the world.

The exhibition includes rare pendants crafted by Renaissance goldsmiths, a 19th-century Russian icon cover of gold encrusted with natural pearls and a 100 million-year-old iridescent fossil ammonite shell from Madagascar. Royalty and celebrity jewelry highlights include:

• Marilyn Monroe’s necklace, made of cultured Akoya pearls and given to the movie actress by baseball great Joe DiMaggio during their 1954 honeymoon in Japan.
  
  
• The Chanel Cuff, mixing 105 cultured pearls from the Akoya pearl oyster with diamonds and gold. This piece was created by the design firm of French fashion designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.
  
  
• Stage actress Lillian Russell’s Chrysanthemum Brooch, made of gold, platinum and diamonds with freshwater Mississippi River pearls.
  
  
• The Audrey Hepburn Necklace, a prototype for the imitation pearl necklace worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
  
  
• The Crown of Empress Josephine of France, carved from a single shell, lined in gold and decorated with gemstones.
  
  
• Queen Victoria’s Brooch, a natural pearl and gem anniversary gift given to the Queen by Prince Albert in 1843.

The exhibition is divided into seven interpretive sections, presenting a holistic story of pearls that incorporates elements of pearl biology, gemology, anthropology, mineralogy, ecology and decorative arts. Interactive stations, animated films and stunning photography illustrate the difference between freshwater pearls and marine pearls. An electron microscope allows visitors to examine the detailed layered structure of a pearl at 50,000 times actual size.

The Museum augments the touring exhibition with a display featuring live mussels, clams and fish in two 40-gallon freshwater and saltwater tanks. The freshwater tank features species of mussels found in the Mississippi River that were integral to the pearl button-making industry in Wisconsin and the Midwest. An exhibit case of buttons, manufacturing tools and harvesting equipment, along with interpretive text and photographs, also are part of the display.

In addition to M&I Bank, the Milwaukee exhibition received support from the Assurant Health Foundation. Assisting with the international tour is Tasaki Shinju of Japan, one of the world’s largest pearl companies.

Tickets to “Pearls,” which also include Museum admission, are $14 for adults (16-61), $12.50 for seniors (62 plus) and $9.50 for children (3-15). Tickets may be ordered through www.mpm.edu or by calling (414) 278-2702 or (888) 700-9069. The Museum, at 800 W. Wells St., is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.