Layer stone
In the art of stone cutting ( glyptics ), layer stones are flat-cut gemstones whose natural structure is made up of several layers (layers), usually in different colors.
Well-known layer stones are the multicolored banded agate and its mostly two-colored varieties onyx (black and white), sardonyx (brown and white) and carnelian (red and white). Banded jasper is also known as a layer stone.
use
Layer stones are preferably used in the jewelry industry to make gems , that is, small reliefs that are worn in rings or brooches .
Since layer stones have had the function of a seal since the earliest times - the oldest, cut stones date from the 3rd millennium BC - the preferred motifs for rings are monograms or coats of arms to this day .
The decorating factor predominates on brooches and therefore mostly portraits in the form of head images in profile can be found on them . But modern artists now also depict geometric and abstract forms.
Layer stones usually consist of two, more rarely three, mostly plane-parallel layers. Skilled craftsmen are also able to create small works of art from up to five-layer and even curved stones. The engravings are executed as intaglio (negative, sunk into the stone), cameo (raised, lying on the stone) and as a special form “Niccolo”, in which the top layer is ground so thin that the layers below show through.
literature
- Walter Schumann: Precious stones and gemstones. All kinds and varieties. 1900 unique pieces . 16th revised edition. BLV Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-8354-1171-5 , pp. 158 .