Rutillated Quartz Octagon Collectors Stone

A Collectors Joy! Heavy Triangle Cut Rutile Quartz of 198.2 Carats. As pictured it is 1.75" Wide, by 1.75" Deep by 1.18" Thick. This Lovely Collectors Piece is cut with 3 Facets on ...

An 18k Yellow Gold Diamond Starburst Pendant set with Rutillated Quartz. This 18kt Gold Starburst Pendant features a central Rutile Quartz Cabochon of 5.57 Carats and is surrounded b...

This Rose Quartz Orb is about 2.25 inches in diameter and displays a lovely star in the correct orientation. This Orb is a substantial collectors piece as a...

Kary Adam Designed, Aventurine & Quartz Faceted Rondelle Necklace with a Silver T-Bar clasp. Clasp is set with small Pink Tourmaline Cabochons. Originally from San Diego, California...

Kary Adam Designed, White Quartz Rondelle Beaded Necklace with a Silver T-Bar Clasp. Clasp is set with lovely delicate Pink Tourmaline Cabochons. Originally...

A Champagne Diamond & Quartz Cabochon Pendant, set in darkened Silver. This Pendant features a central Pear shaped Graphitite Cabochon (Quartz with Graphite Needles) of 27 Carats, su...

If you know someone who loves beautiful rocks and gemstones, this pear-shaped faceted smoky quartz is sure to impress! This glistening gemstone measures 3-3/8 x 3-1/4 x 1-1/2" and is...

This extraordinary jade snake carving can be custom designed into the object of your dreams. The first execution was made to be the handle of a walking sti...

One-of-a-kind miniature clock: a sterling silver figural "globe", covered with cobalt blue enamel, with applied sterling continents. The face its cobalt enamel with mint green gui...

OCTAGONAL RELIQUARY PENDANT Probably Italy, c. 1600 Fire-gilded brass, glass, velvet, ink on paper Weight 63.2 grams; dimensions 82 × 47 × 21 mm (with loop) Physical description: Double-sided pendant in octagonal form made of fire-gilded brass. Both sides of the pendant with deep profiled frames with glass. The slightly indented side panels comprise openwork friezes with symmetrical scrollwork. On the front is dark red velvet, onto which tiny bone relics of saints (now missing) would have been attached. Labels on a lace-like paper silhouette remain, with names written in ink, mostly faded; only “S. Agnes” is legible. The back is hinged and when opened reveals a velvet-lined interior and paper insert with floral decorations on a turquoise ground, on which fragments of bones are attached. Baluster shaped base for shield-like pendant loop and ring. This reliquary pendant is difficult to situate historically because it is a composite object. It represents traditional handwork in the form of a paper cutout, combined with a jeweler’s beautiful fire-gilt brass case. The work of paper cutting, painting, and ornamentation, sometime combined with needlework, is comparable to work still being done in the nineteenth century by nuns and pious ladies. It is prayerful work, a devotional exercise in itself, and shows reverence to the tiny relic fragments that it would have framed and honored. Early versions of this sort of handiwork might be found in the meticulous displays sometimes called “Paradise Gardens.” These were made, beginning in the sixteenth century, by the nuns at Mechelen, in northern Belgium, in multimedia handwork displays of sewing and gluing, combining relics with paper, cloth, glass, metal wire, and found materials. These textured and pious displays were then combined with paintings and cases by professional artists and artisans, as in the example in Cassel. Unfortunately, because of water damage, only one of the labels of the original relic displayed in this reliquary is legible, inscribed “S. Agnes” at the center top; the other names are faded. Presumably the deep velvet-lined box would have also held an assortment of relics other than the ones that were visible through the glass, and perhaps there would have been another display in the glass on the other side of the pendant. There is a second paper insert, this one decorated with a turquoise ground and silhouette flowers to which bone fragments seem to be still attached. The octagonal case, in contrast to the paper cutout, is not at all “home-made.” It has an openwork frieze in scrollwork patterns familiar from enamel work and other metalwork done for European courts and nobility. It is not unlike cases for expensive watches...

TURQUOISE BRACELET ON HIMALAYAN QUARTZ Warriors in civilizations throughout history have relied on the power of turquoise for its strong defensive p...

LEMON QUARTZ CUFFLINKS ON GALENA Studio Greytak’s Lemon Quartz Cufflinks on Galena was made for those with an entrepreneurial spirit. Sunny lem...