Mineral show

FLOWERS

Here is a presentation of the most elegant of our works - flowers made of stones. The starting point for making those were bouquets created in the workshops of the famous Russian jeweller Karl Faberge. Stonecutting master Victor Vasiliev first saw those bouquets in the beautifully illustrated book of Gez - fon - Gasburg named "Faberge". "Faberge's flowers belong to his most attractive and elegant creations, in which every possible register of surprising nature imitation was manifested", the author of the book wrote. Vasiliev took inspiration from this book to create his own bouquet style.

The first bouquet created was a floral composition named "Violets": a small bush of violets made of charoite with leaves of green nephrite in a small pot of agate - "perelivt" with the soil imitated by brown aventurine - set on the base of white nephrite. Three pots had been cut and tried for that composition, but only the fourth one matched it by its colour and ornaments. That is how the technique of cutting and polishing stone leaves and flowers had been chosen: even the smallest details should be made with maximum of perfection.

After that a sketch of another flower was prepared - "Orchid - Falenopsis". An elegant shoot of an orchid in a vase of rocky crystal. The orchid's flowers made of white cachalong. Cut zircons sparkle in the middle of each flower. Nephrite leaves of tender green colour are finely curved. But the craftiest detail of this work is the transparent vase. At first sight it looks like half - filled with water. The vase is carved out of a separate piece of rocky crystal in the technique of "trompe l'oeil", which creates this effect. Karl Faberge often used this technique when crafting his works, giving his bouquets life and practically natural flowers look.

The third floral composition was "Orchid - Paniofedilum". A large orange flower with corrugated petals cut out of bright red carnelian. Few tiny zircons are forming a rosette in the middle of the flower. The flower cup is framed by five narrow leaves of bluish-green chrysoprase and placed in a glass of rocky crystal using the same "trompe l'oeil" technique. A copy of this creation was presented to the president of the Russian Federation.

The next floral composition - «Currant» - continues a series of bouquets in crystal vases. The leaves of the currant are crafted out of nephrite and the berries - out of honey-yellow carnelian. Spots of the muddy-brown colour on the green nephrite add to the natural look of the leaves.

"Snowdrops" stand apart from these compositions. This work is made under the strong influence of the Japanese art. On a thick cut base of dark green nephrite lays "a heap of snow". It is carved out of icy quartz, which colour and lustre look like real snow indeed. The "snow-heap" melted away in the middle, and a small hillock appeared (brown aventurine). As compared with the massive lower part the thin and tiny leaves of greenish - blue chrysoprase and flowers of rocky crystal look especially tender and smart. The petals of the flowers are carved by a "mat polishing" technique, which adds lustre to them.

If you wish to purchase our works or have some projects to propose, we encourage you to contact us by email: info@russianstyle.co.uk