Chinese rock crystal

Rock crystal is a very hard colourless quartz, that provides an excellent medium for carving, and has been used for this purpose since antiquity. The name is derived from the Greek word for ice (krystallos) and the name crystal (as in manufactured glass) was derived from it. It was used for the making of cups, salts, caskets, jewellery, snuff bottles and other small decorative objects although the carving was a time-consuming process due to its hardness.