Rock Crystal Quartz Reverse Intaglio Carved Sculpture By Bernd Munsteiner--"Nature 1"


Idar-Oberstein, Germany Emblematic of the distinctive style of the world-famous lapidary artist, Bernd Munsteiner, this is a monumental piece, carved from a single specimen of rock crystal quartz. The face is smooth polished as are the two sides to provide a view into the "inner world" of the quartz. The back of the sculpture is reverse intaglio carved with both triangular geometric decoration along the "spine" of the sculpture and also features "rough-hewn" incised carving which gives the impression of crystals once having been in the quartz which are now dissolved away. The rock crystal sculpture is removable from the frosted finish octagonal base, and sits in a fitted collar formed of silver. Height 17 1/2 in
|Bernd MunsteinerA relatively new art form in the lapidary world "fantasy cut" or fantasieschliffe as it is known in German, can follow the best attributes of the rough stone while eliminating or avoiding cleavage planes, internal flaws, and inclusions. Probably the most famous practioner of this is the German stonecutter Bernd Munsteiner. The Munsteiner family (Bernd, Tom and Jutta) at Atelier Munsteiner have taken the boundaries of stone cutting to their limits with their endlessly imagnative shapes and forms. While using modern saws, grinders and polishers to create these fantasy cuts, this type of stone cutting brings back the lost art of "hand-cut" craftsmanship. The design is limited only to the cutter's imagination who must possess an intimate knowledge of a mineral's cleavage and optical or refractive properties in order to reveal the stone's natural beauty.