|
CHAPTER IV.
|
||
|
|
||
|
THE WORKING OF PRECIOUS STONES.
|
||
|
|
||
|
LTHOUGH
Professor Ruskin, in an eloquent lecture delivered many years ago at
the London Institution, advised the ladies to wear uncut Precious
Stones, it may be safely said that the eccentric advice of the learned
professor will never be followed, either by the public at large, or by
those connoisseurs who appreciate the true beauty of a noble mineral.
It is undeniable that the qualities for which Precious Stones are most
prized,—their lustre, transparency, refraction, and dispersion of
light,—may be to some extent visible even in their rough state ; but in
order to enhance these advantages, and to render them more attractive
to lovers of beauty, the Diamond must be subjected to cleaving,
bruting, cutting, and polishing, while coloured stones must in like
manner be submitted to the art of the skilful lapidary, who brings out
all the brilliancy and colour of the stone, while concealing its
imperfections.
The
cleaving, bruting, cutting, and polishing appertain to the art of the
diamond-cutter, whose aim is so to manipulate the rough stone, as to
produce with the least possible loss of weight, a regular, or
symmetrical form, bounded by smooth, brilliant surfaces, called facets. The subsequent cutting of designs or mottoes in the polished stone belongs to the art of the stone-engraver.
It does not appear that the Ancients appreciated the art of the lapidary as highly as we do. They preferred
|
||
|
|
||