Modern Hardstone Bottles

[George]

I do like orbicular rhyolites like this Mexican Leopard skin  Realy like these orbicular types of Jasper.. Another that looks very similar to this, is a California Poppy Jasper..

My all time favorite orbed Jasper ( although not a rhyolite ) are the many different colored and simply stunning orbicular type Ocean Jaspers... !

Pretty bottle Tom !

[Wattana]

George,

Thanks for the technical / geological terms. Would like to see examples of the jaspers you mentioned.
Is the type used on my turtle only found in Mexico? I bought it in Shanghai.

Tom

[Steven]

Hi Tom,

You are right about the carved agate bottle, the hammer price was a hair over $400.00.

Both buyer and seller should be happy this time.

[George]

Would like to see examples of the jaspers you mentioned.
Is the type used on my turtle only found in Mexico? I bought it in Shanghai.

Tom

I know you just recently shared a turtle bottle, but darn if I can find it.. Can you give me the link to that topic ?

I will find some Ocean Jasper pics for you here in bit.. 

[rpfstoneman]

All,

I was told this is an example of Ocean Jasper when I bought it.




Another Jasper turtle snuff bottle.




Charll

[Wattana]

I know you just recently shared a turtle bottle, but darn if I can find it.. Can you give me the link to that topic ?

George,

You will find the photos of my turtle bottle on the previous page of this thread. Unless you are thinking of a turtle bottle that Pat (or possibly Richard, I can't remember for sure) posted some months back.

Tom

[Wattana]

Thanks Charll,

Your post came in just as I was writing one to George. It's a very attractive stone. Can't say I've ever seen it before, although the second example reminds me of mottle patterns found on chalcedony. OK, chalcedony and jasper are chemically the same mineral, but jasper is always opaque, as in your first turtle, while chalcedony is translucent to varying degrees, as in your second turtle.

Tom

[Steven]

Nice bottles,Charll and Tom,

I like the shape of Tom's bottle, and stone of Charll's bottle, if those two combine together, then its a perfect bottle.

[Wattana]

Hi All,

Here is another stone that is seen on modern bottles, but never on old ones. Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral, which has an attractive pink colour with lighter and darker striations. It is often found with black or dark brown inclusions, which makes for a very striking contrast when used to create a cameo carving, as seen here. 
Height w/o stopper: 6.5 cm

[George]

Charll..

My best guess is your first pic is a Leopard Skin Jasper..

The second one almost positive is a Morgan Hill Poppy Jasper.. 

[George]

Tom,

The pic makes the bottle look brown... It is Pink, right ?

[George]

I know you just recently shared a turtle bottle, but darn if I can find it.. Can you give me the link to that topic ?

George,

You will find the photos of my turtle bottle on the previous page of this thread. Unless you are thinking of a turtle bottle that Pat (or possibly Richard, I can't remember for sure) posted some months back.

Tom

Yes... That one is Leopard Skin..

[Wattana]

The pic makes the bottle look brown... It is Pink, right ?

George,

That's just poor lighting. I guess it is leaning more to brown than to violet, and the photo pushed it further in that direction. The bottle itself is an attractive 'mellow' pink.

[Wattana]

Another modern hardstone bottle. This is a material I have not come across before or since. Some would categorize this as 'organic', since coral is normally classified that way, but I was told by the lapidary that this is a fossilized version of coral.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has come across examples of this material. I believe the blue colour is an applied stain.

Description: Fossilized blue coral snuff bottle of flattened rounded form, carved in high relief one side to depict a lizard.  Black onyx stopper.  Height w/o stopper: 6.5 cm

[George]

Until your bringing up a blue coral, I had never seen or heard of it before..  My first thought was it must be dye/stain..

But in fact there is a natural blue coral !

It is described as "not as stable" as other corals like apple or tiger type corals..  In fact for a lapidary, apparently great care is suggested while working it.

Here are a pair of small slabs intended for the making of knife scales. Also found some carved pendants that have the same appearance as your carved bottle.

Any coral intended to be carved from a lapidary perspective would have to be fossilized/agatized, and yes, yours does look fossilized/agatized

[Wattana]

Thanks George,

I never knew that there was a natural blue coral! And your comment about needing great care in working with it has raised my estimation of this bottle considerably. I like the material more after seeing your picture of the two slabs.

BTW, what do you mean by 'agatized'? Is that the same as petrified?

[George]

I don't know the technical differences.. An agaitized organic material is harder than a petrified. To get to an agatized state, it must first go through being petrified..

Here is something I found online.. Although describing wood, the same would be true for coral, or any other organic material.

Petrified Wood & Agatized Wood Replacement

The difference between Wood Replacement and Petrified Wood is the entire wood cell structure has been replaced with agate after the wood has decayed and left a chamber for the agate to settle in. Petrified wood is the actual transformation of the wood into agate through the process of absorption of the minerals into the cells of the wood.

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Fascinating, George and Tom.
I didn't know that Blue Coral existed.
Nice bottle, Tom.
George, how big are those two slabs, and what would they cost?
Joey

[Wattana]

George, how big are those two slabs, and what would they cost?

Joey,
You took those two questions right out of my mouth.
Tom

[Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司]

Well, Tom, you do know that, "Great minds think alike..." ?
So do collectors!
Joey