Jais

A polished and black stone (also called Gages’ stone, a village in Licia) obtained by the working of a variety of very hard lignite originating from Minor Asia. In addition to black jais the “bijoux de deuil” were manufactured, the jewels of mourning that Queen Victoria imposed on her courtesans on the death of her husband Albert, and now antique objects. Jais was used for the whole century in different applications and decorations, in the form of beads or small shining cylinders applied on evening dresses in chiffon, crepe, or satin, to make fantasy buttons, to decorate bags and dresses’ fringes.