Jewellery
Jewellery (British English) or jewelry (American English) consists of small decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western perspective, the term is restricted to durable ornaments, excluding flowers for example. For many centuries metal, often combined with gemstones, has been the normal material for jewellery, but other materials such as shells and other plant materials may be used. It is one of the oldest type of archaeological artefact – with 100,000-year-old beads made from "Nassarius" shells thought to be the oldest known jewellery. The basic forms of jewellery vary between cultures but are often extremely long-lived; in European cultures the most common forms of jewellery listed above have persisted since ancient times, while other forms such as adornments for the nose or ankle, important in other cultures, are much less common.
Diana Primrose
The use of the metaphor of a pearl chain sets the tone for the eulogy and illustrates from the beginning the symbolic nature of the peace. The pearl is the oldest known gem, found in the sarcophagus of a Princess of Persia who died in 520 BC (Anonymous, Pearls in Human History). Since its discovery the pearl has been a symbol of purity and perfection and has been recognised as the gem of royalty due to each pearl's unique design no pearl being exactly the same; its formation also signifies strength of character (Anonymous, The Rich History of Pearls). Images of Elizabeth show that the pearl adorned many of her garments, found in the intricate embroidery of her gowns and worn in long ropes around her neck, even attached to pins worn in her hair, and it is assumed that it was her favourite gem in addition to being a symbol of her purity and virginity, they effectively became her robes of state. The entire piece is constructed as though it were a chain of pearls, each separate poem another pearl on the chain that reflects Elizabeth's own beauty of character as both a woman and a ruler, devoid of gender; the pearls representing qualities such as “Chastity”, “Religion”, “Prudence”, and “Temperance” (Spenser). Primrose however also uses other qualities not attributed to Elizabeth such as “Patience” opening the possibility of criticisms of either Elizabeth's predecessors or more likely her successor James VI (Primrose, A Chaine of Pearle).