Vintage Lapis Lazuli Box, stunning deep blue semi-precious stone box is an Objet d' Art all by itself. Pefect keepsake box for a gift or accent to any room. Lined with marble in very vintage condition.
DIMENSIONS: 3 1/4"Diameter x 1.5" H
FACTS & HISTORY: Lapis lazuli or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Lapis is the Latin word for "stone" and lazulī is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum , which is taken from the Arabic لازورد lāzaward , itself from the Persian لاجورد lājevard . It means "sky" or "heaven"; so this is a "sky stone" or "heaven stone".
Historically, it was mined in Badakshan region of upper Afghanistan. Lazulum is etymologically related to the color blue and used as a root for the word for blue in several languages, including Spanish and Portuguese A zul. By the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. Ultramarine was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Vermeer and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary.
