A central feature of Warsh’s argument —and a successful one— is the close attention to language as an active agent in the story of pearls. Warsh argues that “language interven[ed] to add precision and efficacy to power structures” (57). She notes how the Spanish crown developed an intricate taxonomy to categorize pearls into over twenty varieties, each with its own favored use and specific rate of taxation. As such, the naming of a pearl was almost an incantation for creating (or at least attempting to create) objective value. The prime example of this is the irregularly shaped barrueca, or baroque, pearl that was alternately prized and denigrated in different eras and locales. Likewise, the term “orient” came to be synonymous with excellence insofar as pearls were concerned, drawing lines of quality along lines of longitude. This use of language and naming reflected similar processes regarding the categorization of humans along racial and cultural lines which enabled the Spanish crown to regulate labor to its own benefit. Thus, language that, on its surface, was merely descriptive became patently prescriptive in its application.

Moreover, the language surrounding pearls enmeshed itself into the cultural imaginary of the early modern world through a series of dichotomies that stretched back to the first century writings of Pliny the Elder —the light reflected in the pearl contrasting with the murky depths from which it was taken; the beauty of its sheen rebuking the violent system that harvested it. Through these paradoxes, the pearl moves from being simply a commodity and object of study to a guiding metaphor for American Baroque. The words Warsh uses to illustrate the materiality of the pearl —mutable, unruly, unquantifiable, changeable— are shown to be equally accurate in describing the social, political and economic world in which they existed. Evocative turns of phrase such as custodianship of wealth (163) or wealth husbandry (186) speak to the intimate connection between the ecology of pearl fishing and the economy of empire. In this way, Warsh is attentive not only to the language used historically, but to the language she herself uses to craft her argument.