Abstract
This article traces the making of a techno-legal apparatus to regulate a new object: the "cultured" pearl. In the early 1920s, round pearls cultivated on Japanese farms provoked alarm within the Paris association whose members traded more pearls than anywhere in Europe. Despite their claims to be connoisseurs of surfaces, anti-cultivation pearl dealers in Paris asserted that a pearl's identity could only be ascertained by examining its inner structure. By mid-decade, dedicated pearl testing laboratories appeared and supported French court rulings about what to call the products of Japanese pearl cultivation in relation to "natural" pearls. The meanings of nature and culture were not fixed, but transformed in the 1920s, amid legal and technical efforts to know la perle japonaise inside out.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
