We look for stones all of one
color. When we find a number of good ones, all the same, we put
them into a mortar and crush them down. Then we put the small
gravel resulting through a sieve and crush the result until we
obtain a very fine sand, almost as fine as dust. The finer the
sand, the finer the detail that we can obtain. All this is hard
physical work; we do it all ourselves, and do not buy sand from
the merchants who offer it. Only like this can we get the
detailed bottles that we offer on sale.
When the sand has been properly compacted down it becomes
sandstone like the cliffs, and it is possible to remove the
glass and the design is fixed. You can see in the big bottle
here that we have done just this - and the design remains as it
was. We don't really advise you to do this on purpose, the sand
does get rubbed away with time. This is a bottle that we have
made to show you some of the possibilities.
Above you see a three sided bottle, with three different views.
This is a difficult design to make as you can imagine; a mistake
in just one of the views, and all the bottle is ruined.
When the design on the bottle is finished, then comes the more
delicate stage. We have to tamp down the sand so thickly that it
will not move when shaken or carried in a bag. We use a thick
knitting needle and punch it down the middle of the bottle to
settle the sand. We do this again and again - we must use the
greatest care. How many times has an elaborate bottle been
spoiled because the sand at the edge of the bottle been moved
instead of that in the middle only!
We also sell a great number of more ordinary and cheaper bottles
for those wanting a small souvenir only of their visit to Petra.
On request we can put a name in the bottle - your own, or that
of a friend - or just "Petra" and the date.
Picasso
An admirer of our work gave us the name "Picasso" and the name
has stuck! We were interested enough to check him out, and try
to imitate him - the result is different, certainly!
>>See Also Making a camel
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Salome Turkish Bath
Steam
Bath, Scrubbing and Massage.
Drink
Tea as mush as you want, we offer free Trasportation from your
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