Hardstone: The term used for any opaque stones used in making cameos, intaglios, or mosaics, such as agate, carnelian, onyx, etc.
Head: The prongs that secure a stone onto a setting.
Hardstone
An all encompassing term used for stone or gemstones used in making intaglios, cameos, or mosaics. This group includes agate, onyx, and carnelian.
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of death Memorial jewel Jewel that is made in memory of a loved one, often containing hair from that person and frequently decorated with enamel Micro Mosaic Mosaic of very small colored glass pieces (tessarae) inlaid in glass or hardstone ...
Early carvers used coral, lava, shell and layered hardstone materials for cameos. Historically cameos were utilized for wax seals, and later jewelry. Italy was recognized worldwide for the fine quality of carvers.
Hardstone was cut on a specialty lathe with steel drills and wheels. Carvings using this process took months to complete. Shell cameos could be carved by hand with a burin or engraving tool, taking only days to complete a magnificent carving.
Some (c. 1500) were made of hardstone with interior carved and enamelled figures. Sometimes all of the beadq on a rosary were nuts. Occasionally called a 'prayer-nut'.
Parisian Mounts: Ormolu, Pietra Dura (Hardstones), Porcelain Plaques,
Provincial Carcasses: Ash, Beech, Birch, Cherrywood, Chestnut, Linden, Mulberry, Olivewood, Pearwood, Pine, Elm, Walnut, Willow
Stamps on Louis XV and XVI Furniture ...
Typical jewelry items of the period were mosaic jewelry, the cameo brooch and the stick pin, with cameos of carved conch shell, hardstone agate, carnelian, and sardonyx, or Wedgwood ceramic, depicting mythological Greco-Roman imagery.
[Contemporary shell cameo, antique "hardstone" agate cameo ring, Victorian lava and coral cameos: Images courtesy of Acanthus Antiques] ...
Mosaic of semi-precious stones set into a floral pattern of black marble or onyx, also known as a hardstone mosaic
Pinchbeck
A gold simulant, invented circa 1720 by Christopher Pinchbeck, which is comprised of a mixture of copper and zinc ...
Micro Mosaic
Mosaic of very small colored glass pieces (tessarae) inlaid in glass or hardstone
Milanese Chain
Chain consisting of interwoven rows of small links forming a mesh ...
A common and important type of Chalcedony, in which successive layers differ in colour and degree of translucency creating a banded effect. The most common material used in art of hardstone carvings recovered at a number of ancient sites.
 See also: Jewel, Jewelry, Stone, Metal, Cameo
  
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