Description
c1880 Antique Pietra Dura Bronze Mounted Double Locket Picture frame on Easel.<br>13.5" tall x 6 5/8" high total with Easel, The sight area inside the picture<br>frames is 5 3/8' x 3 3/8" The pietra dura plaque without the easel is 8" x 5"<br>counting the bronze ormula on top. This is a really special and over the top<br>piece that required immense skill to make. The bronze frame is heavy so when it<br>is opened it will tip easily when the back leg is fully extended so it will need<br>to be on a not so slick surface if you intent to display it open with the photos<br>showing rather than with the incredible Pietra Dura plaque showing. No<br>detectable issues, some expected wear to the gold gilding on the bronze.<br>TW126<br><br><br>Pietra dura (Italian: [ˈpjɛːtra ˈduːra]) or pietre dure [ˈpjɛːtre ˈduːre] (see<br>below), called parchin kari or parchinkari (Persian: پرچین کاری) in the Indian<br>Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly<br>polished colored stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art. The<br>stonework, after the work is assembled loosely, is glued stone-by-stone to a<br>substrate after having previously been "sliced and cut in different shape<br>sections; and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each<br>section was practically invisible". Stability was achieved by grooving the<br>undersides of the stones so that they interlocked, rather like a jigsaw puzzle,<br>with everything held tautly in place by an encircling 'frame'. Many different<br>colored stones, particularly marbles, were used, along with semiprecious, and<br>even precious stones. It first appeared in Rome in the 16th century, reaching<br>its full maturity in Florence. Pietra dura items are generally crafted on green,<br>white or black marble base stones. Typically, the resulting panel is completely<br>flat, but some examples where the image is in low relief were made, taking the<br>work more into the area of hardstone carving.
