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Biddington's PEDIGREE & PROVENANCE Art Words & Terms

citrine

pronounced:

(see treen)

The name comes from the old French word for lemon, citrin.
Gem stone citrine

What is it?

Citrine is a yellow, semiprecious variety of quartz resembling topaz. Citrine and topaz are the birthstones of the month of November. Natural citrine is quite rare; most is created by heat treatment. Amethyst can be treated to change it to citrine.

Are there any color variations?

Along with the basic orange-yellow citrine is the dark orange red to vivid pumpkin madeira citrine that are both found worldwide. The champagne citrine, a brownish-yellow stone and the lemon yellow, actually a greenish-yellow are mined in Brazil. Citrines should be protected from strong light and heat due to this being the nature of their conception.

How is it used?

The citrine is widely used in jewelry due to its availability, affordability, and durability. Ur-fashionable jewelry designer Verdura included citrine in his inventive and glamorous designs of the 1940s-1960's. In the Late Victorian era citrine was often set with other semiprecious stones such as bloodstones, carnelian & garnets. In ancient times, citrine was believed to ward off evil thoughts and was carried as protection against snake venom. --Biddington's guest editor Lynn Romano


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More PEDIGREE & PROVENANCE:
P&P: Abstract Expressionism
P&P: Arte Povera
P&P: Ash Can School
P&P: bronze patina
P&P: citrine
P&P: Colorfield painting
P&P: Greek columns
P&P: Conceptual Art
P&P: coromandel
P&P: depression glass
P&P: enamel
P&P: encaustic
P&P: etching
P&P: faux
P&P: foreshortening
P&P: gouache
P&P: Iconography & Iconology
P&P: New Image painting
P&P: Newcomb pottery
P&P: parfleche
P&P: Pop Art
P&P: porcelain
P&P: realism
P&P: Senufo
P&P: Surrealism
P&P: turquoise

ABOUT THIS FEATURE

In the art & antiques world, experts bandy about arcane words as though they were part of everyone's standard vocabulary. To a fledgling collector, this practice can be maddening. In PEDIGREE & PROVENANCE, BIDDINGTON'S picks a word or phrase and gives it a good, hard going over: defining it, explaining it and showing how to use it. Glance regularly at PEDIGREE & PROVENANCE, and soon you'll be able to toss those obscure phrases back at the experts with confidence and agility and be fully prepared to purchase works and to bid on items at BIDDINGTON'S upmarket, online art gallery & antiques auctions.

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