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Barnebys HQ
Brahegatan 10
BOX 5038
114 37 Stockholm
All auctions / Ethnographic / 95g Ruby Zoisite Skull – Whorl Pattern
What at first glance appears to be deliberately applied painting is, in fact, the record of colossal tectonic forces. During the metamorphism when zoisite, ruby, and hornblende came together to form this rock, the material was subjected not only to immense heat but also to directed pressure—a shear that forced all elongated minerals to align along specific flow lines. The dark hornblende, naturally stalk-like and flexible, followed this pressure most readily: it did not align straight, but in undulating, sometimes whirling bands, just as driftwood yields to the course of a river. This swirling motion is exhibited by this skull in unmistakable clarity: in the lower jaw, the hornblende coalesces into a closed, almost mask-like black area, while it dissolves over the rest of the skull into lively, dynamic lines — not a random pattern, but frozen movement from a time when the rock itself was still shapeable. Mineralogically, ruby-zoisite remains a metamorphic rock: zoisite — named after the Austrian collector Baron Sigmund Zois — forms the green matrix, pierced by opaque, chromium-tinted ruby (corundum) and that same black hornblende. The only known deposit lies in the Mundarara mine in the Longido District, Arusha Region, Tanzania. Material: ruby-zoisite (anyolite) – zoisite with ruby (corundum) and hornblende inclusions Origin: Mundarara Mine, Longido District, Arusha Region, Tanzania Dimensions: 4.8 x 3.5 x 3.2 cm Weight: 95 g Special features: pronounced, swirl-like hornblende pattern; closed, mask-like darkening on the lower jaw
Estimate:$1.12
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Estimate:
$1.12
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