Lecture held at the Conference "Gemstones in the first Millennium AD. Mines, Trade, Workshops and Symbolism", October 21 2015, at the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany.

1. Elise
Morero
Fa#mid
rock
crystal
carving
techniques
(10-­‐12th
Cent.
A.D.)
Khalili
Research
Centre
for
the
Art
and
Material
Culture
of
the
Middle
East,
Oxford
–
UK
elise.morero@orinst.ox.ac.uk

2. The
early
Islamic
rock
crystal
industry
Produc7on
in
Fusṭāṭ
(Old
Cairo),
10-­‐12th
century
Le@:
BoFle
in
the
form
of
a
lion
(H:
4.45,
L:
6.03)
Bri7sh
Museum
Right:
Cylindrical
flask
(H.
14.9cm)
Bri7sh
Museum
Set
of
chess
pieces
(H.
2.5-­‐4.5cm),
al-­‐Sabah
Collec7on
(Kuwait)
Rock
crystal
crescent
inscribed
with
the
name
of
the
Caliph
al-­‐Zahir
(r.
1021–1036
(Diam.
19cm)
Crystal
11th
cent.
–
Gold
mounts,
14th
cent.
Germanisches
Na7onalmuseum
(Nurenberg)

3. Reliquary
of
the
Holy
Blood
Crystal
Fa7mid
–
Gold
mounts
Vene7an
(?)
13th
century,
Treasury
of
San
Marco
(Venice)
The
”Chalice
of
Henry
II”
Crystal
Fa7mid
–
Mounts
probably
German,
12th
century.
(H.
13cm)
Munich
Residenz
Reliquary
casket
Crystal
Fa7mid
–
Gold
moun7ng,
Germany
(H.
11.3,
L.
14.8cm)
Cluny
Museum
(Paris)

4. The
“Magnificent
Seven”
St.
Denis
ewer
(Musée
du
Louvre)
al-­‐‘Azîz
Billâh
ewer,
Venice
(San
Marco)
Fermo,
Italy
(Tesoro
della
CaFedrale)
Florence
(Palazzo
Pii)
‘Mouflon
ewer’,
Venice
(San
Marco)
London
(Victoria
&
Albert
Museum)
Francis
Mills
ewer
–
Keir
Collec7on
(Dallas
Museum)

5. Inscrip7ons
on
the
ewers
al-­‐‘Azîz
Billâh
ewer
Venice
(San
Marco)
Florence
(Palazzo
Pii)

6. Mul#disciplinary
approach
of
technological
analyses
Wire
saw
used
for
gem
stone
industry
at
Agra,
India,
1870
(Victoria
and
Albert
Museum)

7. -­‐ Medieval
Arabic
wriKen
sources
(al-­‐Bīrūnī,
al-­‐Tifāshī,
etc.),
Mughal
manuscript
illustra#ons,
modern
European
travellers
in
Asia
(e.g.
Bernier,
de
Thévenot,
Fryer)
Composi#on
of
the
database
of
poten#al
techniques
and
tools
used
Bow
lathe
used
for
the
jade
industry,
India,
1826
(Victoria
and
Albert
Museum)
Portrait
of
Jean
de
Thévenot
(17th
c.)
Bow
lathe
used
for
gemstones,
illustra7on
from
the
album
of
traders
and
crapsmen
in
Kashmir
1850-­‐60,
Srinagar?
(Aper,
Archer
1972)
M.
Archer,
Company
Drawings
in
the
Indian
Office
Library,
London
1972

8. !
Representa7on
of
a
bow-­‐lathe
on
the
tombstone
of
a
gem
engraver,
2nd
c.
AD.
(Aper
Boardman
2001)
-­‐ Archaeological
data:
E.g.
tools,
waste
materials,
unfinished
pieces
from
early
lapidary
industries
–
Bronze
Age
and
An#quity
Fragment
of
a
bore
core
made
by
a
tubular
drill,
from
a
sarcophagus
or
large
vessel.
H
11.2cm
(Petrie
Museum,
London)
J.
Boardman,
Greek
Gems
and
Finger
Rings,
Early
Bronze
Age
to
Late
Classical,
London,
2001
Unfinished
calcite
vase,
Egypt
–
Ptolemaic
or
Roman
period
(Petrie
Museum,
London)

9. -­‐ Ethnoarchaeology:
Studies
of
tradi#onal
of
Chinese
jade
carving
and
Indian
hard
stone
carving
industries
(cornelian,
agate,
rock
crystal
and
jade)
Workshop
in
Agra
and
Benares,
in
1967
India
(photo
R.
Skelton)
Treadle
lathe
used
for
cuing
gemstones
in
1930s
–
China
(Aper
Hansford
1950)
S.H.
Hansford,
Chinese
Carved
Jades,
London,
1950

10. Dino-­‐Lite
Premier
digital
microscope
20x
~
50x
+
>200x
San
Marco
(Venice)
Mul#-­‐scale
observa#on
of
the
manufacturing
traces
Analysis
of
the
micro-­‐stria#ons
and
polish
X
50
x100
x100

11. Archaeometrical
analyses:
Tribology
Laboratoire
de
Tribologie
et
de
Dynamique
des
Systèmes
(LTDS)
École
Centrale
de
Lyon
(hFp://ltds.ec-­‐lyon.fr/)
Embalming
technique
of
Cop#c
mummies
(Louvre
museum)
Manufacturing
technique
of
the
bronze
inscrip#on
of
the
Roman
emperor
Claudius
(Gallo-­‐Roman
Museum
of
Lyon)
Use
wear
analysis
of
the
flint
points
used
in
a
tribulum
(threshing-­‐sledge)

12. Taking
silicon
prints
Analysis
of
silicon
prints
using
the
confocal
rugosimeter
Silicon
replica

13. Analyses
of
the
surface
with
the
confocal
rugosimeter
enable
us
to
obtain
precise
measurements
of:
(1)
the
traces
le]
by
the
tools
(2)
sec#ons
through
the
cuts;
(3)
3D
views
of
the
carved
surface
V&A
ewer
(3)
(2)
(1)

14. Experimental
reproduc#on
of
ancient
tools
and
techniques
à
Reconstruc7on
of
a
bow-­‐lathe
using
ethnographic
data
Benares
workshop,
1967
India
(photo
R.
Skelton)
Experimental
bow-­‐lathe

15. Ḥakkāk
using
a
bow-­‐lathe
to
polish
a
gemstone.
Album
of
Jahāngīr
,
AH
1019
/
1610–11
AD
(Prague,
Náprstek
Museum)
Experimental
bow-­‐lathe
Ḥakkāk,
‘”lapidary”
,
from
Arabic
ḥakka,
“to
rub”

16. E.g.
from
the
database
of
the
cuing
processes
Unfinished
rock
crystal
dish
10-­‐11th
c.,
Cairo
(Bri#sh
Museum)
Diagnos#c
databases
of
different
experimental
techniques
and
tools

17. Fāṭimid
tools
and
techniques
Recons#tu#on
of
the
manufacturing
sequence
and
processes

18. The
ewers
were
carved
from
a
single
block
of
rock
crystal
al-­‐ʿAzīz
ewer
(S.
Marco,
Venice)
V&A
ewer
(London)
Raw
crystal
from
Madagascar
(photo
aper
B.
Gaskell)

19. (Aper,
D.
J.
Roxburgh
(ed.),
Turks.
A
Journey
of
a
Thousand
Years,
600–
1600,
London,
2005)
1.
Use
of
hand-­‐held
wire
saws
to
rough
out
the
objects
Indian
workshops
in
1967
(photo
aper
R.
Skelton)

20. (Aper
Hansford
1950)
Right:
Example
of
the
use
of
the
tubular
drill
from
Ancient
Egypt.
(Petrie
Museum,
London)
2.
Ver#cal
bow-­‐drill
and
tubular
drill
to
begin
hollowing
out
the
vessel
Tubular
drills
in
Benares
workshop,
1967
India
(photo
R.
Skelton)

21. Jar,
with
19th-­‐century
Italian
mounts
(H.
10.2cm
without
mount)
Keir
Collec7on
(Dallas
Museum)
Ovoidal
flask,
(H.
10.7cm)
Keir
Collec7on
(Dallas
Museum)
Traces
lep
by
the
tubular
drilling
at
the
boFom
of
the
cavi7es

22. Gouge
driven
by
treadle-­‐lathe
to
hollow
out
a
small
boFle,
China
(Aper
Hansford
1950)
3.
Using
horizontal
lathe
and
gouges
to
complete
interior
cavity
Detail
of
gouges,
China
(Right:
Aper
Hansford
1950)
(Lep:
Aper
Contadini
1999)
A.
Contadini,
‘The
Cuing
Edge:
Problems
of
History,
Iden7fica7on
and
Technique
of
Fa7mid
Rock
Crystals’,
in
M.
Barrucand
(ed.),
L'Egypte
faXmide,
son
art
et
son
histoire,
(Paris,
1999),
319-­‐329
1st
tubular
drilling

23. Ḥakkāk
using
a
bow-­‐lathe
to
polish
a
gemstone.
Album
of
Jahāngīr
,
AH
1019
/
1610–11
AD
(Prague,
Náprstek
Museum)
Using
tools
run
by
the
tradi#onal
bow-­‐lathe
Lapidary’s
wife
at
work
polishing
a
gemstone,
Lucknow,
India,
1815-­‐1820,
Water-­‐colour,
(Aper,
Archer
1992)
4.
Carving
the
relief
decora#on

24. Cudng
the
areas
of
raised
relief
or
'islets’
–
Rock
crystal
Traces
of
the
grinding
wheel
and
cuing
disc
used
to
create
the
‘islets’
Chinese
jade
grinding
wheels
(Aper
Hansford
1950)
Grinding
wheel
Hollowed
out
areas
Islets
in
relief

25. Fa#mid
cudng
discs
• Diam.
2.3cm–3.2cm
• Used
to
create
both
straight
and
curved
lines
Carving
the
mo#fs
Metal
cuing
discs,
India
(Photos
R.
Skelton)
Straight
lines
Curved
lines

26.
Unfinished
rock
crystal
dish
(Bri7sh
Museum)

27. Francis
Mills
Ewer
(Keir
Collec7on
-­‐
Dallas)
Unfinished
rock
crystal
dish
(Bri7sh
Museum)

28. !
Chinese
jade
pointed
drill
bits
(Aper
Hansford
1950)
Spherical
drill
bits
used
by
Fa7mid
carvers
for
the
dots
in
the
decora7on
Mouflon
on
Fa7mid
Ewer
(San
Marco
–
Venice)
Series
of
removable
pointed
drill
bits,
1967
India
(photo
R.
Skelton)

29. The
Francis
Mills
Ewer
–
Keir
Collec7on
(Dallas
Museum)

30. Surface
of
the
unfinished
rock
crystal
dish
–
BM
Experimental
grinding
of
rock
crystal
with
a
copper
wheel
corundum
powder
and
water
Use
of
corundum
powder

31. Polishing
granite
objects
in
Mahabalipuram,
India
(Photo
H.
Procopiou)
Ancient
sources
and
ethnography
–
final
polishing
:
-­‐ Fine
corundum
powder
-­‐ Fine
diamond
powder
-­‐ Hema7te
(iron
oxide)
-­‐ Aluminum
oxide
-­‐ Stannic
oxide
à
Employed
with
(and
without)
water,
vegetal
oils
à
On
a
wheel
in
copper,
wood,
covered
with
leather/fabric
or
mixed
with
lacquer
Polishing
with
abrasive
maintained
on
a
wooden
wheel,
and
water,
1967
India
(Photos
R.
Skelton)
5.
Finishing
and
polishing
the
surface

32. à
Employed
successively
from
coarser
to
finer
and
soper
abrasive
powders
in
order
to
erase
the
manufacturing
traces
and
regain
the
transparency
of
the
crystal
!
!
Experimental
sequence

33. Fermo
Ewer

34. Iden7fica7on
of
later
modifica7ons
or
“improvements”

35. St
Denis
Ewer
(Louvre,
Paris)
The
same
dots
were
then
re-­‐carved
(le@)
with
other
techniques
and
tools
which
lep
different
traces
from
those
on
the
Fāṭimid
corpus
(right)
St
Denis
ewer
Fermo
ewer

36. 16th-­‐century
‘improvement’
on
the
Fermo
Ewer
The
Fāṭmid
part
of
the
decora7on,
carved
in
high
relief
16th-­‐century
decora7on
carved
in
low
relief
with
different
types
of
cuing
discs
and
abrasive
powders

37. 0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
FERMO-01 FERMO-02 FERMO-03 FERMO ISLA-01 FERMO ISLA-02 FERMO ISLA-03
Averageroughness(nm)
Fāṭimid
European
16th-­‐century
Iden7fica7on
of
two
different
polishing
techniques
Analyses
of
the
polished
surfaces
of
the
Fermo
Ewer
with
the
method
of
con#nuous
wavelets
transform

38. SICILY?
Le@:
Waterspout
in
the
shape
of
a
lion’s
head
(L
20.5cm,
H
15cm)
Karlsruhe,
Badisches
Museum
Right:
Lion’s
head
Berlin,
Islamic
Museum
à
AFributed
to
Norman
Sicily,
12th
century
by
Shalem
(1999)
Iden#fica#on
of
different
centres
of
produc#on
à
Use
of
partly
different
tool-­‐kit?
Tubular
drill
SPAIN?
Chess
piece
—
knight
(H
4.3cm)
AFributed
to
Spain
by
Fernando
Valdés
à
inferior
quality
of
the
crystal
Private
collec7on
Plain
drill
bit

39. Common
technical
elements
:
à Carving
of
preliminary
islets
of
decora7on
à Same
cuing
method
for
the
straight
and
curved
lines
(and
spirals)
à Unique
use
of
spherical
drill
bit
for
the
dot
mo7ves
The
Sasanian
Cup
of
Chosroes
Cabinet
des
Médailles,
Paris
(D.
28.2cm)
6-­‐7th
c.
AD.,
Iran
Fa7mid
vessels
Transmission
of
know-­‐how
and
heritage
of
technological
tradi#on?