A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c16.s3.6

c16.s3.6

The Hindus, as Mr. King observes, were among the earliest of mankind to attain to mechanical perfection and facility in the treatment of the hardest stones, executing with facility many operations which would baffle the skill of the most expert modern lapidary; such as boring fine holes with the greatest precision, not merely through the sardonyx, but even through the sapphire and ruby.² The components of the broken jewellery deposited with the relics of Buddha in the very ancient Piprāwā and Bhattiprolu *stūpas* include many examples of minute leaves and other pretty trifles wrought in various hard stones with the most exquisite delicacy. All considerable collections of Indian antiquities comprise numerous specimens of pierced beads made of various precious and semi-precious stones, which display the complete mastery of the old craftsmen over the most difficult materials.³