Rock crystal skull

A hand-carved rock crystal skull from Madagascar. The skull shows consistently clear areas where light penetrates deep into the stone. There is a barely visible, small repair on the nose.

Rock crystal skulls are part of the tradition of esoteric sculptures and have been crafted since the 19th century. The form follows human skull anatomy as a contemplative object.

Madagascar provides particularly clear quartz material for such sculptures. The processing is done manually with grinding and polishing tools, as rock crystal with a Mohs hardness of 7 is among the harder minerals.

Three characteristics: clear quartz structure with light translucency, manual grinding work, contemplative head shape as a sculptural motif.