adornment, personal 18, 31, 32, 35, 46, 49, 66, 122, 197
criticism of 45
of the dead 35, 36–9, 49
South American 41, 64, 122
Afghanistan 77, 88
Africa 8, 13, 23, 24, 27–9, 66–8, 80
see also individual countries
Agricola, Georgius 10, 13
Alberti, Leon Battista 138, 139, 144
alchemy 144, 145–64, 147, 170
Alchemist with Monkey 148–9
Arab 154, 155
China 155, 159–63, 161
complaints about 145–7, 154, 162–3
Daoist 156, 163
Egypt 153, 154
Indian 154, 155
texts 151–7, 156, 158, 159–60, 162–3
Western 163–4
Alexander the Great 77, 98
Alexandria 49, 98, 154
alloy 9, 31, 96, 123–4, 127, 145, 151, 192
Americas 29, 35, 41, 62, 103, 115–30
Chavín culture 122–4, 123
fabled golden cities of 20, 23
Mixtec culture 41, 42, 43, 129
Moche culture 124–5, 125
Muisca culture 15–16, 127–9, 129
Anatsui, El 143–4, 143
Asante Golden Stool 66–8, 67
Atahualpa 20, 21
Australia 9, 170, 187
Aztecs 20, 22, 62, 126, 128–9, 169
Mixtec work for 41, 43, 128
Bacon, Francis 150, 178
Bacon, Roger 155
Barrick Gold 194, 196
Baum, L. Frank 112
Becher, Johann Joachim 169
Bennet, Abraham 166
Bernard of Angers 85
Bible 70–74, 79, 81, 86
Bimaran reliquary 88
Black Sea 14, 37, 191
Bodhidharma 90
Boonma, Montien 92–3, 92
Botticelli, Sandro 133
Boyle, Robert 150
Brailes, William de 8
Brazil 10, 190
British Isles 33, 41, 68, 107, 130, 146, 170, 193–4
bronze, 97, 122, 200
gilt 54, 114
medium for art 66, 86
Bronze Age 11, 199
Bruegel, Pieter the Elder 147
Bryan, William Jennings 107–8
Buddhism 61, 62, 88, 90, 93, 155
Bulgaria see Varna
burial 33–7, 39, 122, 159, 184
with amulets and coins 70
of royalty 26, 33, 37, 64, 103, 124
rings 43
buried treasure 10, 22–3, 33, 38, 175, 177–8
Burma 62
Byzantium 50, 64, 72, 82, 101, 134, 135, 138
California 13, 33, 173, 183–4, 186–190, 194
gold rush 10, 13, 173, 182–9, 183, 186
Canaã nugget 10
Cellini, Benvenuto 135–7, 136–7
Charlemagne 77
China 91, 94, 104, 194
Chinese in California 186–7, 187
Chinese in South Africa 182
emperors 102–3, 105, 110
goldworking 54, 66, 114
money 96, 101, 101, 103, 105
silk 49–50
value of gold 49, 88, 102, 159
see also alchemy, China
Christianity 45, 74, 88, 163
in Europe 51, 64, 73
theology 72, 81
Christus, Petrus, A Goldsmith in His Shop 132
churches 73, 81, 82, 85–6, 88, 115, 130
Basilica of St Denis 38, 46, 82
Cieza de León, Pedro de 126
Cleopatra (1963 film) 57–8, 58
cloth of gold 38, 46, 48–51, 55
clothing 35, 51, 114, 120, 122
Codex Palatinus 74
coins 35, 97–9, 133, 135, 139, 174, 193
bronze 96, 100, 102
Byzantium 82
China 96, 102–5, 104
Egypt 26, 98–100, 100
florin 105–6, 106, 120
Lydia 95–6, 99
Rome 33, 82, 100–102, 101
silver 33, 96–7, 103
Spain 105, 107, 107
United States 33, 110, 112–14, 175
Colombia 15, 41, 127–8
Comogre’s son 117–19
Confucianism 163
Congo, Democratic Republic of 194–5
Constantine 73, 101
Constantinople 50, 75, 80
copper 97, 124, 127, 143, 168
Copper Scroll 23, 24
Coronado, Francisco Vázquez de 20, 22
Cortés, Hernán 129, 168–9
Costa Rica 192
cowrie shells 96–8, 102
Crazy Horse 188
Croesus 95–9, 96, 175
Curie, Marie 170
currency
Central and South America 122
China 102–3
Egypt 98–100
Europe 101, 152
history 70
Javanese 33
objects used as 97–8
paper 103, 108, 110
silver 103–5
Czech Republic 192
Danner, Leonhard 54–5
Daoism 155, 160, 162–3
Dead Sea Scrolls 23, 25, 25
Denmark 88
dentistry 35, 165
deposits 7–10, 13, 35, 178, 188, 195
destruction of 20, 41, 55, 85, 117, 130–31, 134–5, 142
Diane de Poitiers 164–5, 164
Diocletian 152
Diodorus Siculus 181
du Bellay, Martin 54
Dürer, Albrecht 120, 129, 131
Egypt 23–7
in the Bible 70–71
burial practices 37, 37, 64, 159
goldworking 43
King Farouk 112
mining 11, 23, 181
mythology 47, 62, 90
Ptolemaic Egypt 98–100, 181
El Dorado 15–17, 127
electronics 123, 165–8, 197
electrum 96
Elizabeth I 16, 19
embroidery 49–50, 114
Este family 131–2, 131, 134
Euhemerus 14
Europe 64, 182, 193
arts 77, 80, 114–15, 117–18, 129–44
courts 46–8
marriage 45
religion 71–3, 81–2
textiles 49–53
value of gold 116–17
Europeans 23
in Africa 27–8, 67
in the Americas 35, 41, 122, 128–9
ex-voto 85, 130
Ferdowsi 175
Fernández de Oviedo, Gonzalo 11, 46–7
Field of the Cloth of Gold 48, 48–9, 53
forgery and fraud 38, 102, 133, 145, 152, 155, 162–3, 169–70, 178, 193
Fortuny, Mariano 57
France 14, 77, 101, 105, 120, 134, 139, 183
gender 45, 53, 57, 124, 133, 162, 188
genocide 187
Germany 130
Ghana 28–30, 66–8, 130, 144, 189
Ghiberti, Lorenzo 130, 133
gilding see goldworking techniques
Gilgamesh 38
glass 28, 64, 73, 91, 104, 115–19, 160–61, 167, 169
gold as an element 7, 30–31, 171
Gold Coast 28, 67
gold foil 49, 60, 61, 73, 92, 93, 114, 122, 166–8
gold lamé 57–8
gold leaf 61, 62, 64, 70, 74, 80, 114–15, 120, 135, 138–40, 143, 166
gold rushes 187, 190–91, 194
see also California, gold rush
gold script and calligraphy 74–5, 79
gold standard 103–12, 109
gold synthesis 171
gold thread 31, 49–51, 50, 57, 114
Golden Buddha 90
Golden Calf 8, 70–72
goldsmithing and goldworking
Central America 128–9
China 54, 88, 114
Egypt 43
Europe 51, 118–20, 128, 131–4, 132
Greece 88
Inca 20
Lydia 97
Mesopotamia 114
Moche 124
modern 139, 141
Muisca 15, 127–8
Scythian 88
South America 116, 120, 122
Sumer 43
Varna 35–7
goldworking techniques
alloying 31, 122, 124, 145–6, 151
annealing 43, 122
burnishing 122, 124, 151
depletion gilding 124
engraving 35, 43, 114, 131
gilding 51, 54–5, 61, 73, 82, 85, 91, 94, 115–16, 119, 125, 136, 152
lost wax 42, 127–8
powder metallurgy 123
repoussé 35, 85, 88, 122, 128
sandwich glass 115
sintering 123
soldering 43, 85, 122, 127
González-Torres, Félix 139
Gralnick, Lisa 139–41, 141
Great Depression 57, 108–10, 190
Greece
city-states 95–6
funerary items 38, 70, 88
language 31, 71, 74, 155
literature 13, 15, 95, 97, 99–100, 181
mythology 13–16, 16, 70–71, 81, 85, 97, 134, 138–40, 151, 173–5, 174
Gresham’s Law 99
Guamán Poma de Ayala, Felipe 127, 127
Guiana 16–20
Habsburgs 120
Hagia Sophia 62, 64
halo 83, 120, 135, 138
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys 176, 177
Henry the Navigator, Prince 27–9
Herodotus 30, 64–6, 95–6
Hinduism 62
Horn, Roni 139
idolatry 7–8, 8, 41, 70–72, 85
illumination 8, 29, 72, 74–80, 77, 79, 120, 121, 151, 181
Inca 20, 38, 62, 64, 125–6, 128
India 50, 62, 64, 91, 94, 194
ingots 103, 116
Islam 26–8, 51, 74–5, 103, 115, 154
Italy 49, 57, 106, 116, 119, 131
Jābir ibn Hayyān 154–5
jade 49, 88, 114
Japan 105, 114, 181, 185
Jerusalem 72, 72, 75, 82
jewellery 35–6
Asante 67
in the Bible 70
Egypt 37, 44, 62
Europe 64, 114
Nubia 24, 28, 184
responsible 197
rings 41, 43–6, 68
Rome 33, 44–5
South and Central America 122–5, 128
Varna 34, 35–6
Jonson, Ben 146–7
Julius Caesar 100–101
Jupiter, 85
Justinian I, 50
Kay Kāvus 175, 180
Keynes, John Maynard 108
kings of England 48, 51, 52, 53, 146
kings of France 27, 48, 134
kintsugi 114, 115
Klein, Yves 139, 142
Klimt, Gustav 139–41
Danaë 138–40, 140
Knüpfer, Nikolaus, Solon Before Croesus 96
Kufic 74–5, 75
light 30–31, 36, 70, 81–2, 85, 90, 126
Llull, Ramon 155
London 9, 19, 114, 116, 169
Lost Dutchman’s Mine 175, 177–8
Luther, Martin 157–8
luxury 45–6, 51, 53, 57–8, 73–4, 134
Lydia 95–7, 99
McKinley, William 107
McTeague (Frank Norris novel) 174–5
Magi 82–3
magic 43–4, 70, 146–7, 162–3, 173–4
see also alchemy
Mansa Musa, Malian emperor 27, 29
manuscript 74–5, 77, 79–80, 114–15, 119, 121, 134, 152–3, 180
Book of Hours 80, 80–81
see also illumination
maps 23, 25, 126, 127, 177
Maria the Jewess 153, 153
marriage ceremonies 41, 43–6
Martini, Simone 135, 138
Mask of Agamemnon 38, 39
Maya 128
medals 69, 119–20, 131, 132
Medici family 119–20
medicine 159–65
Mesopotamia 43, 114, 122
meteorites 7–8
Mexico 20–22, 63–4, 66, 104–5, 120, 128–9, 168, 174
Midas 95, 95, 175, 177
minerals 8–9, 13, 81, 97, 147, 151–2, 159, 162
mining and extraction 8–9, 11, 19, 199
Brazil 190–91
cyanidation 170, 191–2
Egypt 23, 26
environmental effects 13, 181, 188–92, 194–7
depletion of mines 26, 101, 145, 190
health effects 181, 190–91, 194, 197
human rights abuses 195–7
hushing 13
hydraulicking 13, 14, 189
lost mines 175–6
Nubia 24, 26, 28, 181
panning 11, 11, 14, 181, 190
Papua New Guinea 194
Peru 194
placer 9–11, 26
Rome 11, 13, 101
seawater 168–70
South Africa, 182
surface mining 11, 188–9
techniques for finding gold 10, 10
underground 9, 11, 181
West Africa 28–9
working conditions 181–4, 194, 197
money see coins; currency; wealth
Mongolia 66
Montaigne, Michel de 53
More, Thomas 29–30
Mormons 69
mosaic 62, 64, 65, 73–4, 73, 115, 138
Moses 70–72
mosques 74–5, 115
motion pictures 57–9, 175–6, 178
Motolinia, Fray Toribio de 129
Muhammad 75, 77
murder 174–9, 182, 184, 186–7, 194–5
mythology
Hindu 62
Norse 172, 173
Persian 175
South and Central America 124
see also Egypt; Greece
Naipaul, V. S. 15
Native Americans 11, 173, 186–9
Netherlands 30
Newton, Isaac 105, 150
Nicholas of Verdun 82–3, 83
Norris, Frank 174–5
North Africa 27–8
Nubia 11, 24–8, 181
Oak Island 178
origins of gold 7–9
ornamentation 35, 54, 57, 114, 128
of churches and religious objects 82, 85, 90, 127–8
outer space 7–8, 165–6, 166, 167
Ovid 173–5
Oviedo y Valdés, Gonzalo
Fernández de 11, 46
painting 48, 83, 96, 97, 133–5
with gold 79–80, 114, 134–5, 138–9
Papua New Guinea 192, 194
Paracelsus 155, 163–4
Persia 49–51, 77–9, 90, 95–6, 115, 154, 175
Peru 122–6, 190, 194, 197
Philippines 192
Philosopher’s Stone 150, 152–5, 169
pirates 22–3, 105, 178
Pizarro, Francisco 20
platinum 123, 154
Pliny the Elder 13, 45
Poiret, Paul 56, 57
Porgera 194
Portugal 27–9
Poussin, Nicolas, Midas Washing Away His Curse in the River Pactolus 95
Proclus 81, 153–4
Protestant Reformation 85, 157–8, 182
Proust, Marcel 57
Ptolemy I of Egypt 26, 98–100, 100, 102, 110, 181
Qin Shi Huang 102
Qur’an 74–7, 75, 76
Raleigh, Sir Walter 16–20, 18
reliquaries 82–8, 84, 86, 87, 89
Renaissance 46, 55, 118–19, 133, 139, 150
Rome, ancient 11, 72, 85, 114, 117, 153
coins 100–101
jewellery 43
literature 13, 45, 174
mining 13, 192
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano 110–12, 111
Russia 105
saints 82–5, 117, 134–5
Eustace 85
Faith 85
Jerome 74
Patrick 85–6, 86, 127
salt 28, 80, 124, 134, 150, 155, 163
Sassanid Empire 49–50
science 7, 32, 146, 150, 154, 158, 165
Scientific Revolution 150
sculpture 114, 139, 144
Scythia 38, 40, 41, 64, 66, 88
Seljuk 74, 76
Seven Cities of Gold 20–22
Shrine of the Three Magi 82, 83
silk 49–51, 54, 103
silver
alloy 9, 97, 124
as an element 31, 154
caches 23, 33
Central and South America 123–6, 129
cloth 51
in funerary practices 38
gilded 51, 54–5, 85
and idolatry 71
value 72, 97
Sitting Bull 189
slavery 27, 28, 29, 30, 67, 181, 188, 194, 197
smuggling 50, 193
Solomon 72, 81, 168
Solon 95–6, 96
South Africa 8, 182
South America 15, 19, 122, 129
see also individual countries and cultures
Southeast Asia 62, 88, 103
Spain 11–13, 18–20, 105
Spanish Conquest 15, 16, 20–22, 41, 46–7, 64, 102, 115–17, 120, 122–6, 129, 168–9
Star Wars 58, 59
Starkey, George 150
stars 7
St-Foy de Conques 85, 89
Stevenson, Robert Louis 23
Strabo 14
stupas 62, 88, 90
Sumer 38–9, 43
sumptuary laws 51, 53–4, 134
supernovas 7
Sutter’s Mill (California) 10, 173, 186–7
Tenochtitlan 22
Thailand 61–2, 90, 93
theft 112–13, 134, 173–4, 179, 184
Theodulf 86
Theophilus 151
Thiofrid of Echternach 83
Timurid Empire 75, 77
Titian 139
toxicity of gold 9, 164–5
transistor 167–8, 168
Transvaal 182
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1927 novel and 1948 film) 174, 176
Très riches heures of the Duc de Berry 120, 121
Trismegistus, Hermes 151
tumbaga 124
tunjos 127
turbidites 8–9
Turin Papyrus 23, 24
Turkey 35, 64, 95
Tutankhamun 26, 37, 37
United States 107, 111–13, 192
Varna 33–9, 34, 58
Vasari, Giorgio 133
Veblen, Thorstein 55
Virgin Mary 130
von Stroheim, Erich 175
Wales 11, 98
war
Anglo-Spanish 19–20
Battle of Little Bighorn 188, 189
Boer War 182
Egypt 26
Europe 53, 130, 146
First World War 108
mounted warfare 66
North Africa 27
Rome 101
Russo-Japanese 106
Second Congo 195
Second Punic 100
Second World War 110, 167, 171
Sino-Japanese 105
South and Central America 122
Trojan War 97
War of the Golden Stool 68
wealth
of Africa 27
alchemical 159
of the Americas 16–22, 64
of China 101–3
critique of 7, 85, 93, 97–8
display 36, 46–8, 53–5, 58, 62
of the Duke of Berry 120
of France 134
of Lydia 96
magical 173
marriage and 45
regulation of see sumptuary laws
renunciation 90, 93
weights, standard 31, 67, 72, 97–9, 101, 103, 140, 167
Welcome Stranger Nugget 9–10, 9
Witwatersrand 8, 182
Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The 112
Wren, Christopher, Monument to the Great Fire of London 116, 116
Zosimos of Panopolis 152–3