LAHORE, March 3: The monuments known for their rich collection of semi-precious stones have not seen ‘pietra dura’ work for the last 22 years.

Pietra dura (Italian) is a technique through which artisans embed semi-precious stones in the monuments. The Mughal introduced this stone-fixing technique for their monuments for beauty and elegance. It was introduced to the subcontinent in Shahjehan’s period when Italian workers taught this technique to the local artisans.

Before Shahjehan one does not come across pietra dura work in the Mughal monuments. In later periods Sikhs did a great deal of vandalism to the Mughal monuments and damaged pietra dura work and in most of the cases they took away precious and semi-precious stones with them.

Known for their fabulous pietra dura work are Naulakha pavilion in Shish Mahal (Lahore Fort), Pillars of Shish Mahal, Cenotaph of Jahangir Tomb, Deewna-i-Khas in Lahore Fort, Moti Masjid and a fountain in Shalamar Gardens. None of them has seen any restoration work after vandalism.

No pietra dura work has been done on any of the monuments since 1980’s despite the fact that they need restoration. Still, they retain much of the grandeur which speaks of the pietra dura art.

Artisan Riazuddin, whose forefathers had gained mastery over pietra dura and worked on Red Fort in India and Taj Mahal before partition, regretted that for the last over two decades nothing had been done to restore these extremely delightful structures.

He said that in 2004-2005, Unesco organised a workshop on pietra dura during which some plaques were produced but they did not find place in any of the monuments and the event proved an exercise in futility.

He said his father Nannay Khan, a Pride of Performance, was pietra dura artisan and taught him the skill but the archaeology department was not paying attention to the need for stone-fixing work.

He said semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli, agate, carnelian, Sang-i-Musa, Sang-i-Badal and yellow stone were usually imported from Iran, Afghanistan and India. “Their rates depend on quality and finesse; out of a kilogram of semi-precious stones, 250 grams are of the quality which can be used because the stone-fixing process needs fine stones. A lot of material goes wasted in cutting process,” he said.

An official of the Punjab Archaeology Department told Dawn that the department had carried out partial restoration of pietra dura work wherever it was urgently needed. However, he said, full-fledged work would be carried out in 2013 -- the last year of eight-year-old master plan of the Lahore Fort and Shalamar Gardens, the twin World Heritage monuments.

The department (in the master plan) had focused on those areas which were in precarious condition and needed immediate attention. “We know that pietra dura work has its great significance and shall start restoration work on it in 2013,” the official said, adding that restoration work would include re-fixing of missing stones and consolidation of these structures. — Shoaib Ahmed