Lithophane Legerdemain In Vain

Zephyr Stones

In old times, paper was made by hand, and parchment from sheepskins. The ink was made using the galls or bolls on oak trees.

The colors on this replica ceramic bead remind me of the dark, rich colors of ancient ink. The interesting thing about ink made from oak gall is that the color of the writing, instead of fading with time, actually deepened and got darker, as the oak gall oxidized with age.

Ancient maps and historical documents have this sense of antiquity in the color, like the swirls, knots and columns in this chestnut brown zephyr bead.

That's what I decided to call them, in spite of the facinating suggestions in the comments to the previous post. Love the ideas and the rhythmic sounds of some of them - lithophane legerdemain being one of them.

I was walking down a hallway thinking of nothing in particular, when I thought about the word 'zephyr' and wasn't certain of the definition. Zephyr - Something that is airy, insubstantial, or passing [Middle English Zephirus, Zephyrus, from Latin Zephyrus, from Greek Zephuros].

That seemed appropriate for the idea of the image stone that a lithophane is - the image is fleeting, insubstantial, only visible when backlit. Lithophane \Lith`o*phane\, n. [Litho- + Gr. fai`nein to show, reveal.] Porcelain impressed with figures which are made distinct by transmitted light, as when hung in a window, or used as a lamp shade; ceramic piece with intaglio design; a piece of thin translucent porcelain or china with an intaglio design

An insubstantial design, revealed in the depths, enhanced by the color of chestnuts, the color of oak gall ink on parchment. Zephyr Round Chestnut Stone.