The amber stone is called the gold of the North. This is a solid resin of coniferous trees, containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in the main composition. Amber has yellow shades - from light yellow to red, among which there are yellow-honey, yellow-orange and many others, there are also blue and green stones, and even black ones.
The history of stone and amber products in the ancient world
Since ancient times, amber has been used not only as a healer of diseases, but also jewelry was made from it. It has long entered the life of the inhabitants of the coast of the Baltic Sea. Amulets, beads, figurines of animals were found at ancient sites of people. Baltic amber even reached Egypt. In the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, a crown decorated with Baltic amber and various amber funerary items were found.
The British Museum in London has an Assyrian obelisk with an inscription mentioning amber. There is a description of amber in ancient Greek poetry. For example, Homer, describing the decoration of the palace of the Spartan king Menelaus, lists gold, silver, ivory and electron - this is how the ancient Greeks called amber.
Information about amber is found in the works of Plato, Hippocrates, Aeschylus. And the philosopher Thales described the properties of amber.
The Roman poet Ovid told a beautiful legend about Phaeton, the son of Helios, the god of the Sun. Phaeton begged his father to drive across the sky in his golden chariot harnessed by four fiery horses. Helios refused his son for a long time, and yet yielded to his requests. The weak hands of Phaethon could not hold the horses, they carried him and set fire to the earth and sky. Zeus got angry and smashed the chariot with lightning. Phaeton fell into the river Eridanus. The sisters bitterly mourned the death of their beloved brother, and the tears that fell into the river turned into amber.
There are other legends, but in each of them, amber is associated with tears. In the era of ancient Rome, with its love of luxury and wealth, the glory of amber also shone. The Romans appreciated the beauty of the stone and paved the way to the Baltic coast. Gradually places of amber trade appeared. The news about the solar stone also reached the Arab countries, where amber became no less popular than in Europe.
Whatever it was called - "a piece of the sun", "sun stone", "sea incense". The Greeks called amber elektron or electrium, which means "brilliant". The radiant stone reminded them of the star Electra. In addition, the stone had the ability to electrify during friction and attract light objects.
The German name - "hot stone" reflects another of its properties - it is easy to ignite and burn with a beautiful flame, emitting a pleasant smell. The Lithuanian name "gintaras" and the Latvian name "dzintars" reflected another property of the stone - "protection from diseases". In Rus', amber was called "latyr" or "alatyr" and was also endowed with healing properties.
When the amber fashion began in ancient Rome, figurines, bas-reliefs, portraits, necklaces, carved jewelry, incense vessels and wine bowls were made from stone. The richest people in Rome decorated their villas and swimming pools with amber. The price of amber was then high - a small figurine made of amber cost more than a living slave.
Many patricians of Rome carried amber balls with them, cooling their hands in the heat. The high cost of amber was explained not only by the beauty of the stone, but also by the healing properties recognized by all physicians. The Roman Empire fell, and amber carving art gradually fell into decay.
The history of amber stone in the Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, radiant stone was rarely used; at that time, due to its fragility and fragility, it was not respected. But in the Far East, amber was treated differently. In China and Japan, cherry-colored amber was especially revered. These stones were considered to be frozen drops of the blood of a dragon, a sacred animal from the 12-year annual eastern cycle. Therefore, only emperors and those who were related to them could wear cherry amber.
In the Middle Ages, mass production of miniature figurines began in China and Japan. They were carved from various materials, including amber. Japanese stone cutters and jewelers at that time achieved the highest skill in making original and elegant figurines and jewelry. They combined amber with other precious stones, applied gold and silver powder to the stone, then repeatedly varnished it, set amber in gold and silver, inlaid with ivory.
In the 13th century, a new period began for amber. It was the age of the crusaders who conquered the amber-rich Baltic and established a monopoly on the extraction and trade of sunstone. At this time, amber brought happiness to few people.
Those who issued decrees, robbed the Baltic countries, the stone brought wealth and power, but this did not make them happier, because the acquired wealth must be stored so as not to lose it, and with it the head. As for the common people, it was easier to deal with them - there was a decree forbidding the collection of amber and, moreover, processing it.
The courts severely punished the disobedient, there was a special executioner for the execution. The Baltic peoples kept the memory of cruel rulers for a long time, from generation to generation they passed on stories that formed into legends about the Teutonic conquerors. The Teutonic Order banned all stone-cutting work, something that has been the main business in the Baltics for centuries.
All mined amber was now for sale, and the crusaders received fabulous profits. This was the case until the middle of the 15th century. Then the development of two large centers for the production of amber products begins, in Danzig (Gdansk) and Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad). All this was led by the last Master of the Teutonic Order and the first Duke of Prussia, Albrecht of Brandenburg.
The amber products of the formed art centers differed from each other. In Danzig, stone-cutting art had a religious orientation (crucifixes, sculptural images of saints, rosaries, altars), in Königsberg it was secular (cups, vases, bowls, figurines, candlesticks, caskets, cutlery, chessboards, etc.).
Amber in the Baroque era and today
In the 17th century, the art of processing amber was at the highest level, it seemed that nothing was impossible to create the beauty of amber products anymore. Inlaid with gold, silver, ivory, mother-of-pearl was carried out.
Fine virtuoso carving, the ability of craftsmen to create amber products in the form of mosaics, compositions from different types of amber, a contrasting combination of colors, engraving using colored foil - all this demonstrated the perfection and beauty of the solar stone.
The mosaic technique, in which amber plates were superimposed on a wooden base, was especially loved by carvers. In this way, it was possible to make a large-sized product. Multi-tiered chests, cabinets were created, even the walls of the rooms were trimmed with amber.
Prussia actively conducted the sale of amber products. In many countries of Europe and Asia, unique masterpieces of carved art on amber appeared, more often they were presented as diplomatic gifts. The Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin has a rich collection of such items. Unusual and luxurious items made of amber were also available at the court of the French kings.
Inventories of amber treasures mention many items, such as cabinets, mirrors in amber frames, and vases. All of them were decorated with the finest bas-reliefs, figurines, and ornaments. Some of them were presented by the king as a gift to distinguished guests, others are kept in the Louvre.
The 17th century brought unique creations of sun stone carvers to the world treasury. In the 18th century, the famous amber room was created, which became the pinnacle of stone-cutting art.
Some of the best amber products are kept in the royal castle of Rosenberg in Copenhagen, in the museums of Vienna, Victoria and Albert in London, in Florence, in the castle of Marienburg in Malbork, in many museums in Germany.
A few years ago, the World Amber Museum was opened on the island of St. Thomas. The collection includes various types of amber, beautiful models of the three ships on which Columbus arrived at the shores of America. The interior decoration of the museum premises is also unusual, the compositions “Amber Forest” and “Amber Waterfall” are unique in their beauty. In the last composition, a real water stream flows down the amber wall.
A few words must be said about the Amber Room, which is a masterpiece of amber art. Its history began in 1701 in Prussia. By order of the enthroned King of Prussia, it was planned to rebuild the palaces in Berlin. So the king and queen decided to create an unusual amber office.
The work progressed slowly, so that neither the king nor the queen had time to see the planned changes in the palaces. And the new king, the son of the previous one, Friedrich Wilhelm I, first stopped all work, and then in 1716, in connection with the conclusion of an alliance between Russia and Prussia, he presented a gift to the Russian Emperor Peter I - the Amber Cabinet. Peter I, with great joy, made a return “present” - he presented 55 gigantic grenadiers and an ivory goblet, executed with his own hand ...
The Amber Room was kept in the Catherine Palace, which was captured and robbed by German fascists during the Great Patriotic War. The Amber Room has been stolen. From 1942 until the spring of 1944, the panels of the Amber Room were located in one of the halls of the Royal Castle of Koenigsberg. In April 1945, after the storming of the city by Soviet troops, the room disappeared without a trace, its fate still remains a mystery.
From 1981 to 1997, work was carried out to reconstruct the Amber Room. By the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg in 2003, the Amber Room was restored again from Kaliningrad amber with money from Russia and Germany. The eighth wonder of the world can now be seen again in the Catherine Palace.
An unusual exposition - "Amber Cabin" is located in the Museum of the World Ocean in Kaliningrad. Here, all items, including household items, interior elements are made of amber or inlaid with it.
In the cabin, explorer's tools, maps, ethnographic objects, miniature ship models, a mosaic picture - a wind rose, made on the ceiling, a decorative panel - "Map of the World", on which various amber processing techniques are all made of amber.
You can talk about the beauty of amber and the art of stone carvers, about unique expositions, about the best collections of amber products for a long, long time. Nature endowed the stone with an incredible richness of shades, amber glows in the rays of the sun, and it seems so warm to the touch ...
