In the age of European expansion, pearls became potent symbols of imperial supremacy. Pearls for the Crown demonstrates how European art legitimated racialized hierarchies and inequitable notions about humanity and nature that still hold sway today. When Christopher Columbus encountered pristine pearl beds in southern Caribbean waters in 1498, he procured the first source of New World wealth for the Spanish Crown, but he also established an alternative path to an industry that had remained outside European control for centuries. Centering her study on a selection of key artworks tied to the pearl industry, Mónica Domínguez Torres examines the interplay of materiality, labor, race, and power that drove artistic production in the early modern period. Spanish colonizers exploited the expertise and forced labor of Native American and African workers to establish pearling centers along the coasts of South and Central America, disrupting the environmental and demographic dynamics of their overseas territories. Drawing from postcolonial theory, material culture studies, and ecocriticism, Domínguez Torres demonstrates how, through use of the pearl, European courtly art articulated ideas about imperial expansion, European superiority, and control over nature, all of which played key roles in the political circles surrounding the Spanish Crown. This highly anticipated interdisciplinary study will be welcomed by scholars of art history, the history of colonial Latin America, and ecocriticism in the context of the Spanish colonies.

In the age of European expansion, pearls became potent symbols of imperial supremacy. Pearls for the Crown demonstrates how European art legitimated racialized hierarchies and inequitable notions about humanity and nature that still hold sway today. When Christopher Columbus encountered pristine pearl beds in southern Caribbean waters in 1498, he procured the first source of New World wealth for the Spanish Crown, but he also established an alternative path to an industry that had remained outside European control for centuries. Centering her study on a selection of key artworks tied to the pearl industry, Mónica Domínguez Torres examines the interplay of materiality, labor, race, and power that drove artistic production in the early modern period. Spanish colonizers exploited the expertise and forced labor of Native American and African workers to establish pearling centers along the coasts of South and Central America, disrupting the environmental and demographic dynamics of their overseas territories. Drawing from postcolonial theory, material culture studies, and ecocriticism, Domínguez Torres demonstrates how, through use of the pearl, European courtly art articulated ideas about imperial expansion, European superiority, and control over nature, all of which played key roles in the political circles surrounding the Spanish Crown. This highly anticipated interdisciplinary study will be welcomed by scholars of art history, the history of colonial Latin America, and ecocriticism in the context of the Spanish colonies.

“A fabulous interweaving of fantasy, politics, and sisterhood—this unusual, tense tale will have you on the edge of your seat!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce Red Queen meets House of Salt and Sorrow in Mara Rutherford's debut YA fantasy Crown of Coral and Pearl, which follows a young woman from a village on the sea who must impersonate her twin on land to save everyone she loves from a tyrannical prince. For generations, the crown princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. Nor once dreamed of seeing the mysterious mountain kingdom for herself, but after a childhood accident left her with a scar, she knew her twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the crown prince. Then Zadie is injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. She soon discovers her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, Prince Talin, Nor learns of a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen...and a plot to destroy her village. To save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules...but discovering her own formidable strength may cost her everything she loves. Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

Lady Lea—beloved sister of the Emperor Caelan—is beautiful, good-hearted, and magically gifted, with the ability to see into the hearts of others. And when what she sees moves her to tears, those tears are transformed into flawless pearls. Lord Shadrael, dispatched by his warlord brother to kidnap a member of the royal family, chooses Lea. A hardened warrior, he believes himself impervious to her powerful gifts. But on their journey through the fearsome Hidden Ways of the shadow world, he is drawn to Lea’s goodness and inner strength. In Shadrael, Lea can foresee her destiny, even as she also anticipates great grief. For ultimately, if she is to save Shadrael from his own darkness, she will have to choose between her brother and her abductor. “Chester is a world class fantasist.”—The Best Reviews

The preparation of this book has been a joint labor during the spare moments of the two authors, whose time has been occupied with subjects to which pearls are not wholly foreign—one as a gem expert, and the other in the fisheries branch of the American government. For many years the writers have collected data on the subject of pearls, and have accumulated all the obtainable literature, not only the easily procurable books, but likewise manuscripts, copies of rare volumes, original edicts, and legislative enactments, thousands of newspaper clippings, and interesting illustrations, many of them unique, making probably the largest single collection of data in existence on this particular subject. It was deemed advisable to present the results of these studies and observations in one harmonious volume, rather than in two different publications. While the book is a joint work in the sense that each writer has contributed material to all of the chapters and has critically examined and approved the entire work, the senior author has more closely applied himself to the latter half of the text, covering antiquity values, commerce, wearing manipulation, treatment, famous collections, aboriginal use, and the illustrations, while the junior author has attended to the earlier half of the book, with reference to history, origin, sources, fisheries, culture, mystical properties, and the literature of the pearl.

Since her family moved to Cornwall, Lizzy's world has been turned upside down by the discovery that she has a long-lost brother, Kes, and even more amazingly that their mother is a mermaid. Now Lizzy and her new family must bravely battle the evil sea queen and her terrfying servant, for Lizzy has a powerful treasure and the sea queen will stop at nothing to get it. Exciting and full of dark mystery and suspense, ideal for girls of 8–10 who love stories with an edge.

See the world through Zadie’s eyes in this bonus chapter, which first appeared in the paperback edition of Crown of Coral and Pearl. When Sami invites Zadie to explore a sunken ship with him, she immediately jumps at the opportunity. After all, discovering treasures in the depths of the ocean could provide Zadie with enough money to buy the boat her family desperately needs. But swimming in open water can be dangerous, particularly when the hunt for gold serves as a distraction… Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

In A Crown that Lasts, former Miss Universe and Miss South Africa Demi Tebow confesses the danger of tying our identities to our accomplishments. Discover the truth of who you were created to be and how to use your platform, no matter how big or small, for eternal impact. On this earth, a crown is what separates victors from the rest of the competitors, but the goal of creating a life worth living is not to gain a trophy, get a prize, or keep the crown. Our lives are not meant to be about being number one or making our own names known. While walking you through the journey of her evolving confidence—from basing her identity on temporary labels and her own efforts, to discovering the rock-solid security of anchoring her dreams in her Maker—Demi weaves her story together with the insights she's learned along the way. A Crown that Lasts will show you how to Relate to the discomfort, confusion, and doubt that arises when you base your confidence on external things, Discover God-confidence when your plans take unexpected detours, Know what do when planted in unknown territory, Use your story to grow an eternal impact, and Stay grounded in the truth of who you are in Christ. The purpose of our lives is to love and serve God and others. Demi shows how you can be encouraged to focus not just on your aspirations, but on your greater purpose and leave behind a footprint of significance, not just success.