Silver on Calcite
Unknown Owner
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This is a large and elegant silver specimen that reminds me of a bird leaping off from a rock. It is a complex nest of intergrown silver crystals of several habits, and is complete all around. It looks good from either side, and looks very sculptural (if less birdlike) standing upright. Large Batopilas silvers are a thing of the past, and rarely turn up. Matrix pieces, where the crystals have been carefully preserved as you see here, even more rarely still. Most specimens were collected and than boiled in acid to dissolve the calcite away and reveal silver wires and nests of wires. They were sold cheaply at the time (in several batches, most recently in the 1970s). This piece probably came out prior to that, though, I am told. It was also physically excavated from the surrounding calcite with minute tools and a lot of patience, and so the silver has its natural patina whereas most are burned bright and shiny.The calcite has a natural look instead of the melted look, sometimes seen in calcite-associated material from the more modern finds (still many decades ago!). Joe Budd photos
Product details
Known provenance
| Date | Collector | Acquisition price |
|---|---|---|
| 08/2024 | Unknown Owner | Not disclosed |
| — | The Arkenstone | Not disclosed |
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