Lapis Lazuli Vintage Sterling Silver Oval Pendant

This Large Artisan Lapis Lazuli Sterling Silver Pendant is executed in a hand made ornate Sterling frame and measures 2 1/4" Long by 1 1/2” Wide. The origin of the Lapis is questionable but could be of Canadian origin. This piece was purchased in Canada. The stone is bezel set with a roped border, intertwining circles and bead work.

COMMENT: For Lapis Lazuli Lovers, This Is A Fabulous Pendant For You!

WHAT IS LAPIS?  

Lapis Lazuli is a rich blue opaque, semi-precious stone that has been used in jewelry since ancient times. Ground-up lapis lazuli was once used as a pigment for oil paintings. Lapis lazuli is often dyed to deepen and improve its color.

“Lapis lazuli, also known as just lapis, is a stone with one of the longest traditions of being considered a gem, with a history stretching back to 5000 BC. Deep blue in color and opaque, this gemstone was highly prized by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, as can be seen by its prominent use in many of the treasures recovered from Pharaoh tombs. It is still extremely popular today.

Lapis is a rock and not a mineral because it is made up from various other minerals. To be a true mineral it would have one constituent only.

The first part of the name is the Latin lapis, meaning stone. The second part, lazuli, is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum, which came from Arabic (al-) lazward, which came from Persian & zhward. This was originally a place-name, but soon came to mean blue because of its association with the stone. English azure, Spanish and Portuguese azul, Italian azzurro also derives from this source. Taken as a whole, lapis lazuli means stone of azure.

SOURCES

The finest lapis comes from the Badakshan area of Afghanistan. This source of lapis may be the oldest continually worked set of mines in the world, the same mines operating today having supplied the lapis of the pharaohs. Using this ancient source, the Indus Valley Civilization's artists used to make beautiful carvings and traders used to trade them to distant places. More recently, during the 1980s conflict with the USSR, Afghanistan resistance fighters disassembled unexploded Soviet land mines and ordnance and used the scavenged explosive to help mine lapis to further fund their resistance efforts.

In addition to the Afghan deposits, lapis has been found in the Andes near Ovalle, Chile, where it is usually pale rather than deep blue. Other less important sources are the Lake Baikal region of Russia, Siberia, Angola, Burma, Pakistan, USA (California and Colorado), Canada and India.

Uses

Lapis takes an excellent polish and has been made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments and vases. In architecture it has been used for cladding the walls and columns of palaces and churches.” (CIT. Wikipedia Encyclopedia)

CONDITION: Excellent!