How is micro mosaic jewelry made?
Micromosaics are created from tiny fragments of tesserae, generally made from glass or enamel, set to form small pictures. Once that hardened, any gaps between the tesserae were often filled with colored wax. Then the image often was polished to give it a smooth and even surface, according to Lang Antiques.
When was micro mosaic jewelry popular?
Wearing micromosaic jewelry became popular during the Grand Tour period (17th–19th century). Members of rich European families would travel around Europe, taking in the sights and cultures of different countries.
What is pietra dura jewelry?
Pietra dura (translation hardstone) refers to a Florentine mosaic technique that is descendant from the Roman opus sectile mosaic style. In this technique, carefully sawn pieces of gemstones are fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle to form an image.
How do you clean old micro mosaic jewelry?
Cleaning Your Micromosaic A very simple solution for cleaning vintage micro mosaic jewelry is warm water with a drop or two of dish-washing detergent. Dip an old soft toothbrush, or make up brush, into the cleaning solution.
What is micro mosaic called?
tesserae
Using very small pieces of glass or stone, referred to as tesserae, micromosaics form small pictures that might be mistaken for paintings at first glance.
Who made pietra dura?
Giovanni Montelatici
Giovanni Montelatici (1864-1930) was an Italian Florentine artist whose brilliant work has been distributed across the world by tourists and collectors.
What are the tiny mosaic tiles called?
tessera
A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive tessella) is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus.
What is mosaic jewelry?
(3 min read) Mosaic jewelry incorporates the fine art of micro mosaic; a meticulous mosaic craft that places tiny mosaic pieces (tesserae) to create patterns, images, and effects, much like the art of Pietra Dura (translation – hard stone) where small, cut stones are inlaid and polished to create small imagery.
Is Pietra a Dura?
pietra dura, (Italian: “hard stone”), in mosaic, any of several kinds of hard stone used in commesso mosaic work, an art that flourished in Florence particularly in the late 16th and 17th centuries and involved the fashioning of highly illusionistic pictures out of cut-to-shape pieces of coloured stone.
What is pietra dura made of?
Pietra dura items are generally crafted on green, white or black marble base stones. Typically, the resulting panel is completely flat, but some examples where the image is in low relief were made, taking the work more into the area of hardstone carving.