United Kingdom · Gemstone craft; Jewellery; Yorkshire heritage
Whitby Jet — Carving and Turning
The carving and polishing of Whitby jet — the fossilized wood (Jurassic monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria mirabilis) from the shale cliffs of the North Yorkshire coast near Whitby, worked as a gemstone for personal ornament since the Bronze Age and reaching its peak during the Victorian mourning jewelry fashion following Prince Albert's death in 1861. The Whitby jet worker reads the correct carving direction through the same grain-and-acoustic assessment documented for the Santiago de Compostela jet carving (CRAFT-1074) but calibrated to the different grain character of the Jurassic Whitby lignite — which cleaves differently from the Asturian jet of the Spanish tradition.
Risk level: Endangered · Not listed; Whitby jet carving on the UK national heritage inventory
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