After reading through the previous posts regarding Kris Lane's Colour of Paradise: The Emerald in the Age of Gunpowder Empires (2010), I wish to hone in more on Joseph Conaci's take on the sephardic 'middlemen' (to borrow his phrase) that are involved in the emerald trade. These persons, cast out of other regions in Europe due to religious persecution, especially by the Inquisition, migrate to other areas of Europe, importantly London, in which they become rather large players with the London East India company. Moreover, they become involved with what Lane refers to as the 'stowaway' commodity--one that is just barely on the ledgers of merchant ships. As Lane argues, "A common trend by the late seventeenth century was for New Christian merchants living in colonial Colombia's port of Cartagena de Indias, Lisbon or Seville to send emeralds to their openly Jewish relatives living in Amsterdam or London for re-export to India, Turkey or Persia. By 1700, London-based Sephardism regularly sent emeralds to Madras on English East India Company vessels to exchange for diamonds" (xi-xii). Those Sephardic Jews and converted New Christians (as Lane states are "...Iberian ethnic Jews forced to convert to Catholicism [xi]) were able to sell their product to the more dynamic and fluid market in South Asia (India) and the Middle East, away from religious transgressors that would have otherwise greatly impacted their lucrative business. Nevertheless, in agreement with Mr. Conaci, these 'middlemen' needed a new outlet for their private economic ventures, and holding out in regions such as the Netherlands and England provided them avenues to more safely conduct their transactions within a private sphere. Moreover, their move to these regions do greatly impact the overall trade.
Yet, these middlemen had to deal with and trade and other commodities in order to get their emeralds transported and sold in the more lucrative markets. Lane states, "Whatever their path to London, Jewish merchants routinely asked East India Company officials for licenses to ship Colombian emeralds to India at reduced rates. As early as 1703, emeralds, pearls and coral beads were charged only 2 per cent of appraised value, and raw coral 4 per cent" (182). They traded other precious goods, including coral, which was highly prized in India, and found that by trading the 'green' stone (emerald) in conjunction with this commodity could help their product reach the gunpowder empire markets. Lane further characterizes the trade of emeralds and corals through his research of Gedilia Yogev in 1978 and Francesca Triellato, that the trade of coral parallels the, "...more secretive trade in emeralds" (183). The point here demonstrates that emeralds were essentially thrown in with other commodities prized by the gunpowder economy (and their respective buyers, primarily the elite classes) in order to move the product from Jewish areas in Europe to South Asia and the Middle East, as well in the hope of buying diamonds, where were prized in a European economy. It is through the sources Lane deploys where this point comes out more. On Table 2, "Registered Private Treasure Sent to India to Buy Diamonds" (186-7) lists foreign silver, coral, Amber/Pearls, and Emeralds all of which are grouped together in the shipping ledger to be transported to India in order to buy an item more prized in Europe. Additionally, Lane writes, "Following the 1709 freight-charge decrees quoted above, the company created a standard entry space in its accounts for 'bullion' or 'foreign silver' (mostly Mexican pesos) along with coral, emeralds, pearls, amber and assorted jewels, all sent by private traders to India expressly 'to trade for diamonds' (185). Again, emeralds are thrown in with other commodities all being shipped to an area of the world that prizes them more, especially emeralds, in a transaction for a different precious gem. Keep in mind, this trade is cosigned by persons of "Sephardism" (185) showing their importance in moving the product as 'middlemen' from its origins (the mines of Colombia), through the Caribbean, through England via the East India Company, ending up in the gunpowder empires. The Sephardic Jews, more than just 'middlemen' soldified the term 'stowaway' commodity (Lane's phrase) as one that got through the cracks and holds of primarily being controlled by the larger government's of Lane's period (16-18th centuries), were grouped on ledgers with other commodities they cosigned and made it to the gunpowder regions, all through private companies. Simply, I take Mr. Conaci's view of Sephardic Jews one step further, one's that both had primary agency and a group that gave a new term to a type of commodity that is transferred and sold between varying parties.
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