ARABIAN HORSE HEAD
A Masterpiece in Emerald
A one-of-a-kind masterpiece, hand-carved from a single block of emerald-bearing rock drawn from three hundred metres beneath the earth of Bahia, Brazil.
"Every meticulously crafted detail completes this masterpiece, uniting nature, technique and art in its purest form."
Carved from one uninterrupted block of natural emerald-bearing rock, the Arabian Horse Head reveals a level of anatomical precision rarely seen in gemstone sculpture. Each strand of the flowing mane, each vein and muscle of the head, was drawn out of the stone by hand — never assembled, never added.
Emeralds surface across the entire work: crystalline greens folded into black biotite and pale feldspar, so that the sculpture changes character with every angle of light. It is a piece conceived for museum collections and the world's most discerning private collectors.
Rotate the masterpiece freely, pause on any angle, and magnify the surface until single crystals fill your screen — an intimate encounter with the stone, wherever you are in the world.
The rock was extracted from the legendary Carnaíba mines in the Serra da Carnaíba, Bahia — ground that has yielded Brazilian emeralds since the 1960s. Today, gem-quality material is no longer found at depths above three hundred metres, making each recovered block a genuine geological rarity.
Emerald is the noblest member of the beryl family, its unmistakable green ignited by traces of chromium. The ancient Greeks named it "esmaragdos" — the green stone. In this work, the crystals remain exactly where the earth formed them millions of years ago: embedded in their native matrix, wild and untouched.
Set deep in the Bahian sertão, the Serra da Carnaíba is one of Brazil's historic emerald districts. There, emeralds crystallise in phlogopite schists, at the contact between pegmatites and ultramafic rocks.
It is from this singular geological environment that the deep green of this work was born — a signature of the Brazilian earth.
A sculptor from Campo Formoso, Bahia — the gateway to the emerald mines — Paulo Faustino carved the Arabian Horse Head directly into the natural rock, by hand, completing the work in October 2025.
From the block brought up from the depths, he selected its noblest face and released the horse from within it: nostrils flared, neck arched, mane streaming as if in desert wind. Nothing was cast, nothing was moulded — only stone, steel and patience.
Issued by gemologist Weysida Carvalho (GIA GG 063937 · OPERB 15.0254/PE). Mineralogical identification of the emerald-bearing block, prepared in accordance with ANM and IGS International Gem Society standards.
Download the Report (PDF)Attests the work as an exclusive and authentic piece of rare beauty by Paulo Faustino, hand-carved from natural emerald-bearing rock. Registered before a notary public in June 2026.
Download the Certificate (PDF)Report valid for one year from issue (June 2026). Complete documentation available for verification upon request.
A company registered with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), United Arab Emirates, for the private trading of precious metals, pearls and precious stones.
Corporate documentation and DMCC verification available upon request.
The Arabian Horse Head will be offered at auction through the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, the world's leading hub for gold, diamonds and precious commodities. Private viewings and acquisition enquiries are welcomed.