Posted by: Beadman ®
06/27/2002, 20:35:29
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Here's a photo of some of the recent Taiwan "etched" carnelian beads I acquired in 1997. None have the pattern we are seeking, though some might be considered variations or somewhat similar. I'm posting the photo for two reasons. 1) Perhaps seeing an ancient carnelian bead and these new specimens will help the original chap decide what he has in front of him, even if he doesn't see exactly the same sort of beads. 2) A few words about "carnelian." This is a made-up name, that is an Americanization for "cornelian" (the preferred British-English word). The word refers to the fruit of a member of the dogwood family of trees, that's called a "cornelian cherry," and looks very much like a red cherry—being a brilliant orange-red tone. (I've seen these in real life, after looking for quite a few years.) In spite of the implication of the name, by association, the word "cornelian" is more than just a color or color-range, ands refers to a group of quartz-family minerals—most of which are chalcedony, but also includes agate and even jasp-agate. The range of colors varies from translucent white, through pink, orange, red, and brown. The same material in yellow is sometimes called "yellow cornelian"—but I would disagree that cornelian is "yellow." In America, a false etymology has developed that says "carnelian" means "flesh-colored." This refers to muscle tissue, and NOT to the tones of skin (these being quite variable). Substitute "carnelian" for "cornelian" in the above, and it's all the same stuff. In the detail of a necklace posted here, the top left spheroidal bead, and the right spheroidal bead closest to the bow-shaped central bead are both so dense as to be "visually opaque." Others, throughout the necklace, are much more tranlucent and pass light easily. Carnelian varies from feebly translucent to very translucent. It may seldom or never be truly transparent nor opaque, but the effect of diaphenaity to the unaided eye may be that the stone is "opaque" as a first impression. Jamey | Uploaded file |
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