AGATE'S APPEAL

LA BEAUTE DE L'AGATHE

I have long considered agate a material that was a little, how shall I say, "hippy". Something about it reminded me of the sixties, back to nature and it's "authentic" values.The value of true natural understated beauty versus the value of, say, flashy diamonds and emeralds. There is nothing wrong with understated beauty, quite the contrary. It's just that up until recently the offerings were more of the arts and crafts category than to the realm of couture and panache. And I like panache. Not "bling-bling", no, not at all. Just a little panache.

The beauty of agate has appealed to designers of all sorts from couture's Yves Saint Laurent to less known very creative minds.

Agate has been reinterpreted, if you will, into striking pieces that are fresh and decorative.

Agate in jewelry

Sliced and polished

Faceted

Mixing polished and rough agate

Rough and natural

Playing with the rich veining of the stone

Agate over the years and even centuries

19th Century Vienna

40's Germany

Parthian cup 2nd. Century BC

Agate in the home today

Plates and platters

Decorative accessories

Lighting

40's French lamp

images wood, joelle desparmet, kaboodle, carter, lineachic, chconklin, wien, getty museum, shopfoundobjects, kevon leigh, ysl, kimberly mcdonald, kimberly lostermann, god's paintings, elementsofstyle

au revoir.