Sculpture of Three Elephants with Trunks Holding A Lapis Lazuli Ball. The three elephants are sitting on their hind legs leaning against each other to create the cradle for the ball with their raised heads. The piece is likely from Asia, as the ears of the elephants are smaller than those of African elephants. 

Ball Size: 3 1/4 X 3 1/4 X 3 1/4 in. 

Elephants Size: 7 X 7 X 8 1/2 in. 

#7142 . 

Lapis lazuli is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Originating from the Persian word for the gem, “lāžward,” which means “sky” or “heaven,” combined with the Latin word for “stone,” lapis lazuli is a rock composed primarily of the minerals lazurite, pyrite and calcite. As early as the 7th Millennium BC lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines in Shortugai and in Badakhshan province in modern northeast Afghanistan. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (3300-1900 BC), and beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania. It was used in the funeral mask of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (1341-1323 BC). By the end of the Middle Ages lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into the pigment ultramarine. Ultramarine was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque period, including Masaccio, Titian and Vermeer, and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary. Ultramarine has also been found in dental tartar of medieval nuns and scribes, perhaps as a result of licking their painting brushes while producing medieval texts and manuscripts. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint largely ended during the early 19th Century, when a chemically identical synthetic variety became available. Mines in northeast Afghanistan continue to be a major source of lapis lazuli. Important amounts are also produced from mines west of Lake Baikal in Russia, and in the Andes mountains in Chile which is the source that the Inca used to carve artifacts and jewelry. Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, small statues, and vases, remaining one of the most sought after and appreciated minerals in all of human history.