The Emerald Unguentarium, the largest emerald in the world at 2,860 carats in view at Vienna's Imperial Treasury. Luxury item.
The exact weight of the original massive crystal is not known but after the crystal was hollowed out and transformed into an ointment vessel (unguentarium) it weighed 2,860 carats. The cutter who apparently seemed to have followed the shape of the natural crystal - which was in fact a twin crystal intergrown into one another - in order to minimize losses, eventually ended up with a vessel having a rather irregular shape. The surface of the vessel is engraved with four leaf patterns. The dome-shaped lid of the bottle has enameled gold decoration at its base where it fits on to the mouth of the vessel. The master carver who fashioned the vessel had also created facets of different shapes on the surface of the vessel as well as the lid, which were subsequently polished to bring out the intrinsic beauty of the emerald. The dimensions of the vessel are cm, cm, and cm.
Size: 2736px × 3648px
Photo credit: © Vidura Luis Barrios / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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