This box is created from several types of stone, cut and shaped into many separate pieces and crafted together. Each edge of the top square has a slight bevel, leading to a complex center frame created from white jasper, black onyx, and small accents of blue lapis lazuli.
The center stone featured on the lid is a piece of Nature's Paintbrush, a dendritic dolomite from China. It shows a background in shaded gray and a horizontal horizon line created brown coloring and sprays of black dendrites.
The lid lifts fully away and is secured with two magnets. Both the lid and base have a tiny circle of mother-of-pearl to easily line the magnets up. Inside the black onyx layer is African Queen Picture Jasper in neutral shades of tan, brown, and black.
The four sides also feature different sections of Nature's Paintbrush, each with another fine black and white double-frame. The pieces used for the front and back match each other, and likewise with the left and right sides. Each has a creamy background with thin black dendrites and little hints of pinks.
9cm x 9cm (outer)
8cm x 8xm (inner)
5cm tall (outer)
4cm inner depth
Intarsia: This is a term for the inlay technique of using thinly cut and polished stones to create images. The stonework is glued stone-by-stone to a substrate after having previously been sliced and cut in different shaped sections; then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section is practically invisible. For thousands of years artisans have been using stone to create jewelry, decoration, or embellishments. Intarsia is a high expression of lapidary art requiring a close mastery.