Mineral Bears

_{(please click image for full view)}

Title: Mineral Bears
Medium: Digital Photography
Photographer: Aaron J. Greenblatt
Camera Type: Panasonic DMC-LZ7 Lumix 7.2 MP
Editing: Edited in PhotoShop 7.0 for color accuracy, size, and to apply copyright and border.

Location: Photograph taken at the 2008 Southeastern Michigan Gem and Mineral Show at the Southgate Civic Center in Southgate, Michigan. Show hosted by the Midwest Mineralogical & Lapidary Society.

Description: Sitting in a glass cabinet at the show were numerous animal figurines carved out of various types of minerals. Included among these figurines were several carved bears. The mineral bears in this image are carved out of hematite, jasper, and calcite. Two of the bears have carved mineral fish in their mouths - the hematite bear a sandstone fish and the jasper bear a lace agate fish.

Mineral carvings, like the ones in the above image, have been for sale at every mineral show I have ever attended. Usually there are at least two dealers at each show who offer a wide variety of carved animals. While some people prefer to collect minerals in their natural states, there appears to be a rather large segment of the local population who collect minerals in the form of one type of carving or another.

Most mineral carvings sold at shows come from either China or Mexico - where cheap laborers can be put to work turning massive rocks into delicate animals. The carving material itself can come from anywhere in the world. In fact, I think I've seen just about every type of rock material at some point carved into an animal shape, from sandstone and agate to rubies in zoisite.

About Stone Carving: Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stone work. In fact, the oldest known works of representational art are stone carvings. Prehistoric Venus figurines such as the Venus of Berekhat Ram may be as old as 800,000 years, and are carved in stones such as tuff and limestone.

Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of the Cycladic cultures of ancient Greece. Later cultures devised animal, human-animal and abstract forms in stone. The earliest cultures used abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs pneumatic hammers and other devices. But for most of human history, sculptors used hammer and chisel as the basic tools for carving stone.

Information Source:
[link] (wiki - Stone Carving)

Legal: Copyright © Aaron J. Greenblatt. All rights reserved. Commercial use prohibited. This image and commentary may not be used for any reason without expressed written consent.


Please click here to view my photography work located in my Gallery.

Please click here for images of my glass work located in my other Gallery.

Please click here for images of my glass studio located in my other Scraps.