Lovely Antique Pietra Dura - Tropical Bird with Flowers and Butterfly

The paperweight is masterly inlaid, from various marbles, gems and other stones, each piece of stone is carefully selected and set into the picture. Crafted in a technique known as the Florentine mosaic technique - commesso in pietre dure (pietra dura = hard stone) - was developed in the 16th century by artisans working for the Medici family in Florence. It uses thin slices of stone cut and polished to size for landscapes, genre scenes, allegories and still lives. Often, the natural hues of the stones are used to produce naturalistic pictures of clouds and other details. The fine craftsmanship speaks for itself.

This measures approx. 4 5/16 x 4 5/16 (about 11.8 x 11.8 cm).

Circa 1900.

It is in Very Good to Excellent Condition with no losses. The overall condition is as you would expect from an object of substantial age that has been displayed/handled/used, usually over the lifetimes of several owners.