10 masterpieces of contemporary gemstone carving (PHOTOS)

Culture
RUSSIA BEYOND
Russia has a centuries-old history and tradition of the art of stone carving and Russian craftsmen and jewelers have been famous throughout the world since tsarist times. Below, we present a selection of unique items by our contemporaries from the collection of the State Hermitage.

Vladimir Ilyukhin. Portrait of a cat, 1995

Jasper, carnelian, obsidian, labradorite, silver

Gennady Pylin. Behemoth Cat [a character in Mikhail Bulgakov’s ‘The Master and Margarita’ novel], 2000

Obsidian, jasper, cacholong, chrysolite, gold, silver

Vladimir Ilyukhin. Little Mouse, 2002

Agate, morion, silver

Sergey Shimansky. ‘Time’ composition, 2007

Smoky quartz, jasper

ANNA NOVA. ‘Field Bouquet’ composition, 2009

Gold, silver, precious stones, cacholong, jade, amethyst, quartz

Sergey Falkin. ‘Wave’ snail, 2009

Jade, faceted black stones

Anton Ananiev. Babylon Snail, 2010

Brazilian agate

Alexander Leventhal. Yeshua. 2011

Ural Jasper

Anton Ananiev. ‘La Fleur du Mal’ (The Flower of Evil) composition, 2012

Jade, obsidian, rock crystal, gold, silver

Yaroslav Ksenofontov; Mikhail Komarov. ‘Bird’ composition, 2013

Jade, carnelian, lapis lazuli, cacholong, jambul chalcedony, silver, citrine, cubic zirconia

The ‘Contemporary Gemstone Carving’ exhibition will be held in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg from July 9 to December 31, 2022.

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