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BOHEMIAN
GARNET
(or pyrope) – is a transparent to translucent mineral, a small precious
stone (from 0.2 to 0.8 cm in size), fiery or blood-red in colour
(coloured with iron with a chromium admixture). Its name derived from
the Greek Pyropos, pyr = fire, ops = eye, from the Latin Carbunculus =
cinder, granatus = graniform, English Bohemian garnet, German
bohmisches Granat, zrnakoč in old Bohemian, according to Klaret. It has
a hardness number of 6.5 to 7.5. It boasts exceptional colour
stability, and is resistant to heat and acids.
 The Bohemian
pyrope has been haphazardly collected from river silts since ancient
times. The organised collection of garnet with export to Europe began
in the early middle ages, at the time of the great migration of nations
from the 6th to 8th centuries. In the middle ages the popularity of
Bohemian garnet wanes. A few rare goldsmith relics have been preserved
from the second half of the 14th century (reliquary from Prague
Cathedral). It was not until the late 15th century that garnets began
to be seen more often as decorations on liturgical silver, particularly
chalices. The peak period came under the reign of Emperor Rudolf II
(ruled 1576 – 1610), who supported cutters and introduced the right of
first refusal on garnets of exceptional size. In 1679 Bohuslav Balbín
gave the pyrope the name Bohemian garnet. After 1700 Bohemian garnets
became more widespread in jewellery generally. Small stones came into
fashion in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century and so the Empress Marie
Terezie issued a ban on the export of Bohemian garnets from the
country, thus protecting the domestic monopoly on the mining and
working of garnet. Stone-cutting shops opened in Podsedice, Dlažkovice,
in Světlá nad Sázavou, Třebenice, Horní Třebívlice and in Skalka. The
Czech national renaissance established the Bohemian garnet as the
mineralogical symbol of Bohemia. It became an attribute of Czech
patriots (portraits of the wife of Václav Hank, the daughter of
František Palacký, Božena Němcová, etc.). To help date garnet jewels
from the 2nd third to the end of the 19th century there are two garnet
setting techniques: grain and rivet (jewellery techniques). In the 19th
century Bohemian garnet-makers hosted successful displays at industrial
exhibitions. Thanks to the success of the craftsmen at the World
Exhibition in Brussels in 1958, Bohemian garnet again became part of
contemporary artwork, and in recent times due to the jewellery-makers’
symposiums in Turnov.
The largest collections of historic work with Bohemian garnet are owned
by the National Museum, the smaller Museum of Art and Industry in
Prague and the Moravian Gallery in Brno. There are also custom-designed
collections in the Vocational Jewellery College in Turnov (student
work) and in the local Museum of the Bohemian Paradise.
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