Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Trebizond arms with huge amount of corals?

dennee · 13th January 2006, 11:59 PM

The question about why the common teardrop or elongated shape is an interesting one. Confessing that I don't know the answer, I'll suggest a couple of possibilities that might apply. First, in terms of creating decorative patterns, there may be more flexibility using something that is elongated, i.e., narrower and more linear than a disk or cabochon of coral might be.

In addition, if one considers how to get the most decorative pieces out of a branch of red coral and eliminate the hole which occurs in the center of the stalk (which appears on Tibetan weapons, for instance, but is often obscured by a pin through it), the way to do it might be to cut cross sections of the stalk creating disks and then to halve the resulting disks and work them (an depending on the diameter of the coral and the desired size of the pieces, one might be able to make more than two pieces, with the "top" of the resulting stone being along the circumference of the disk and the bottom, as applied to the weapon being a "chord" within the circle of the disk). Moving from the center of the disk edge, one could polish down the stone so that its surface curves toward the edges where the disk was cut. Thus could the "hole" be removed and pieces could be created with a significant but minimal arc, possibly saving material while not having the pieces either flat or bulging too greatly. This would not necessarily argue for why a teardrop instead of an ellipse or the shape of a joinery biscuit (i.e., an ellipse with pointed ends--geometry mavens, help me out).

And, if one simply wanted round pieces, one could presumably cut the stalk lengthwise and then shape the sides into round pieces, but with a loss of perhaps more material where the circles would intersect along the length.

But I guess we'd have to ask someone who works coral for applied decoration (as opposed to beads) for a definitive answer.

13th January 2006, 11:59 PM	#18
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	Shape The question about why the common teardrop or elongated shape is an interesting one. Confessing that I don't know the answer, I'll suggest a couple of possibilities that might apply. First, in terms of creating decorative patterns, there may be more flexibility using something that is elongated, i.e., narrower and more linear than a disk or cabochon of coral might be. In addition, if one considers how to get the most decorative pieces out of a branch of red coral and eliminate the hole which occurs in the center of the stalk (which appears on Tibetan weapons, for instance, but is often obscured by a pin through it), the way to do it might be to cut cross sections of the stalk creating disks and then to halve the resulting disks and work them (an depending on the diameter of the coral and the desired size of the pieces, one might be able to make more than two pieces, with the "top" of the resulting stone being along the circumference of the disk and the bottom, as applied to the weapon being a "chord" within the circle of the disk). Moving from the center of the disk edge, one could polish down the stone so that its surface curves toward the edges where the disk was cut. Thus could the "hole" be removed and pieces could be created with a significant but minimal arc, possibly saving material while not having the pieces either flat or bulging too greatly. This would not necessarily argue for why a teardrop instead of an ellipse or the shape of a joinery biscuit (i.e., an ellipse with pointed ends--geometry mavens, help me out). And, if one simply wanted round pieces, one could presumably cut the stalk lengthwise and then shape the sides into round pieces, but with a loss of perhaps more material where the circles would intersect along the length. But I guess we'd have to ask someone who works coral for applied decoration (as opposed to beads) for a definitive answer.