Hardstone carving
Some rocks used in architecture and monumental sculpture, such as granite, are at least as hard as the gemstones, and others such as malachite are relatively soft but counted as hardstones because of their rarity and fine colour.
[10] The Chinese and other cultures often attributed specific properties for detecting and neutralizing poison to gemstones, a belief still alive in the European Renaissance, as shown by the works of Georgius Agricola, the "father of mineralogy".
[11] The English word "jade" derives (via the Spanish piedra de ijada) from the Aztec belief that the mineral cured ailments of the kidneys and sides.
There are related Asian traditions of Korean jade carving, in Southeast Asia and, to a much lesser extent, Japan.
In 1062 the Cairo palace of the Fatimid Caliphate was looted by his mercenaries, and the examples found in European treasuries, like the one illustrated, may have been acquired as the booty was dispersed.
[16] The great wealth of the Mughal court allowed precious stones like rubies and emeralds to be inset freely in objects.
The court workshops of the Ottoman Empire also produced lavish and elaborate objects, in similar styles but without reaching the artistic peaks of Mughal carving.
They also produced vessels and small sculptures from a single piece of stone, often mounted with gold, which was also a speciality of Milanese workshops.
[23] Other rulers followed their example, including Peter the Great, whose Peterhof Lapidary Works, founded in 1721, began the passion among Russian royalty and aristocrats for hardstones.
The Mannerist court taste of the 16th century delighted in extravagant vessels for serving fruit or sweetmeats, or display as table centrepieces or on sideboards, with hardstones augmented with mounts and bases in precious metal, enamel and jewels.
[24] In contrast to the vast malachite vases that rather typify Russian carving (picture below),[25] the last notable modern producer was Fabergé in pre-Revolutionary Russia.
However they have been recovered from sites of other cultures, including one deliberately deposited in the ceremonial precinct of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), which would presumably have been about 2,000 years old when the Aztecs buried it, suggesting these were valued and collected as Roman antiquities were in Europe.
The Māori people of New Zealand, developed the carving of pounamu (jade) for weapons, tools and ornaments to a high standard.
[28] Most hardstones, including jade and quartz varieties, have a crystalline structure that does not allow detailed carving by edged tools without great wastage and a poor finish.
[32] As a highly prestigious artform using expensive materials, many different techniques for imitating hardstone carvings have been developed, some of which have themselves created significant artistic traditions.
Scagliola developed in Italy to imitate pietra dura inlays on plaster; less elaborate forms are called marbleizing.
Medieval illuminated manuscripts often imitated both inlaid stone and engraved gems, and after printing took over paper marbling continued as a manual craft for decorating end-papers and covers.
