Blue Chalcedony Hand Carved Vase, Incense Holder

A vase incense holder cut from a single block of blue chalcedony.

This is cryptocrystalline quartz — the crystals are there but far too small to see, which gives blue chalcedony its soft, slightly greasy sheen and its translucency. Held up to a lamp the pale blue-grey lets light through at the edges while the thicker passages stay opaque.

Hollowing stone is slower and riskier than shaping it — the wall has to stay even, and any flaw the block was hiding will find the thinnest point.

Item ID S100113
Material 100% natural blue chalcedony
Size see photographs
Weight see photographs