A Petra Dura "Thing"

A few years ago I matched beads to this petra dura pendant to create a necklace to wear on special occasions.  There is something tropical about the design of the petra dura; it makes me want to smell the hot scents of the tropics, and the combination of black and aqua is exotic.   

Petra dura is a type of stone mosaic (literally meaning "hard stone") perfected in Florence, Italy.  The technique includes cutting small slices of colored stone which are formed into a design on a bed of black marble.  Petra dura designs flourished in popularity during the Victorian period, and travelers to Europe often brought home souvenirs of their journeys in the form of stone art - everything from pins and pendants, rings, wall plaques and table tops.  Like other visual art forms, the designs can be jagged and amateurish or highly skilled arrangements of magnificent detail.  All things bright and beautiful - especially delicacies of nature, such as birds, flowers and fruits - were themes used in this art form.  

I have never tried my hand at crafting petra dura, and I probably will not have the occasion, but I greatly appreciate the tiny work of art I wear around my neck.  When I do I commune with the artist whose mind formed this design and whose hands made it appear as well as the lovely ladies who, over the years, held it up to their wardrobes to determine how to best frame it on their bodies.  The artist and the ladies surely smile and join in the wearing.   

I have been accused of thinking too much and caring too much about "things" (said piously by those more righteous than me with disdain as if a "thing" is a bug).  With that disclaimer, I admit that I care about this "thing" because appreciation of this petra dura is timeless communion with the act of creation  and a meaning-making way of making friends with those who made and wore it before me.  Such means of making meaning warms my soul, feeds my spirit and is, unpiously, not all about me.