This small trinket box is created from several types of stone cut and shaped into many separate pieces, and crafted into this rounded square box. Each top edge has a very slight bevel, leading to a center frame in white jasper and black onyx with angled corners.
The center stone featured on the lid is a piece of Nature's Paintbrush, a dendritic dolomite from China. It shows a scene of a gray sky over tan earth, speckled with dendrites that appear to create thin trees.
The lid lifts fully away and is secured with two small 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.
5.5cm x 5.5cm lid
2cm tall outer
1cm 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.