Thursday Favorites: Carnelian

Today's post is one of several featuring Nina Designs. These gorgeous earwires and matching onion shaped findings are part of a goody bag I received from Nina's team. I added carnelian rounds and brass spacers to this design.

Carnelian is one of my favorite stones. It has such a deep, rich honey color. But even more interesting is that it is one of the oldest stones found in antiquity. It has been set into crowns, swords, jewelry and architecture for thousands of years. I must admit that Taj Mahal is by far (for me) the most intriguing uses of carnelian, and it is what I used as my inspiration for this pair of earrings. 

Carnelian is used as inlay (right) for the motif of the Taj Mahal. The pattern uses flowers, which are considered a representation of paradise and symbolize the kingdom of Allah. The Taj Mahal was built by the Shah Jahan as a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in child birth with their 14th child. The Taj Mahal is her eternal resting spot and Shah Jahan wanted it to be her paradise on earth.

The inlay technique is called 'parchin kari' which is similar to the Italian technique know as 'pietre dure.' First the pattern is drawn directly on the marble walls using a red dye, called henna in India. These patterns are then chiseled out, and finally precious stones are inserted and fitted into the marble sockets. Various stones were used such as lapis lazuli, garnet, agate and carnelian. The color of the gemstone was important as it provided depth and shading to the flower motifs. The parchin kari at the Taj Mahal is considered one of the finest quality examples of the era.

The materials above were provided as part of the Nina Designs blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.