Hardstone is a non-scientific term, mostly encountered in the
decorative arts or
archaeology, that has a similar meaning to semi-precious stones, or
gemstone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
s. Very hard building stones, such as
granite, are not included in the term in this sense, but only stones which are fairly hard and regarded as attractive ones which could be used in
jewellery.
Hardstone carving is the three-dimensional carving for artistic purposes of
semi-precious stones such as
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
,
agate,
onyx,
rock crystal,
sard or
carnelian, and a general term for an object made in this way. Two-dimensional
inlay techniques for floors, furniture and walls include
pietre dure,
opus sectile (Ancient Roman), and medieval
Cosmatesque work these typically inlay hardstone pieces into a background of
marble or some other building stone.
The definition of "hardstone" is not very rigid, but excludes "soft" stones such as
soapstone (steatite) and
minerals such as
alabaster, both widely used for carving. Hard organic minerals such as
amber and
jet
Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to:
Aerospace
* Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines
** Jet airliner
** Jet engine
** Jet fuel
* Jet Airways, an Indian airline
* Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline
* Journey to Enceladus a ...
are included, as well as the
mineraloid
A mineraloid is a naturally occurring mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystallinity. Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for specific minerals. For example, obsidian is an amor ...
obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.
Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
.
Geologically speaking, most of the gemstones carved in the West are varieties of
quartz, including
chalcedony,
agate,
amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that t ...
,
sard,
onyx,
carnelion
Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...
,
heliotrope,
jasper and quartz in its uncoloured form, known as rock crystal. On the
Mohs scale of mineral hardness, quartz rates no higher than a 7, less for types with impurities. Stones typically used for buildings and large sculpture are not often used for small objects such as vessels, although this does occur.
The term is derived from a literal translation of the Italian plural ''
pietre dure'', 'hard stones', which in Italian covers all hardstone carving. The semi-anglicized singular ''
pietra dura'' is used in English for multi-coloured stone
inlay work, in fact using
marbles as much as semi-precious stones, which was a
Florentine speciality from the Renaissance onwards. ''Pietre dure'' is sometimes used for Italian or European vessels and small sculptures of the same period.
[See the introduction to the web feature o]
''Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe''
Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Notes
{{reflist
Gemstones
Visual arts materials
Stones