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Clayton & Abby Quam Panteah | ||
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This husband and wife carving duo have chosen an elegant piece of boulder opal to create this cute petite bear. Boulder opal is found in Australia where precious opal forms in veins and patches within brown ironstone boulders. When the opal is mixed through the ironstone it is called matrix opal. Hardness ranges between 5.5 and 6 on the Mohs scale. Boulder opal is very durable due to the ironstone backing the opal forms on. Because water content within the opal is very low it almost never cracks as it ages. Boulder opal is unique to Queensland Australia. Queensland's southwest opal fields (Quilpie, Yowah, Eromanga) are important sources of boulder opals. The fields in these areas are in sediments from the Cretaceous age (100 million years ago). Most opals were formed in deeply weathered rocks in arid regions. During high rainfall periods, small amounts of silica were dissolved by water. As the water evaporated, the remaining silica formed the minute spheres. When these spheres were packed into tight regular formations they formed the gem quality opal that is treasured around the world today Concretions up to 5 cm across known as nuts, may host a kernel of solid opal or contain a network of thin veins of opal through the ironstone. This variety of opal is prevalent at Yowah where the concretions form distinct bands—the well known Yowah-nuts. At Yowah, miners still use hoist opals in buckets and use picks or jack hammers to dig for opal, most other mines use giant excavators with huge buckets and large bulldozers. Australia produces 97 percent of the world supply of opals today. Major opal mines are the Winton, Quilpie, Yowah, Koroit and Jundah mines. Clayton and Abby have inlaid the heartline and eyes of Sleeping Beauty turquoise and the fetish is initialed CAP in their normal fashion. Perfect for the pocket, purse, medicine bag or atop your desk for frequent eye candy during your busy day!
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The Zuni Fetish Story
If you're new to Zuni fetish collecting and interested in learning more about them, we have written a short article about Zuni fetishes and what they mean to the Zuni culture. CLICK HERE to read the article on Zuni fetishes.
Zuni Fetish Meanings
We've written this article to inform Zuni fetish collectors about the specific meanings and attributes of the more traditional Zuni fetish carvings.
CLICK HERE to read the article on Zuni fetish meanings.
The Zuni LanguageIf, as a Zuni fetish collector, you haven't had the opportunity visit Zuni Pueblo but would enjoy hearing some words in the Zuni language, we hope you'll findthis article interesting and informative. CLICK HERE and turn up your volume to enjoy! The Zuni Spirits BlogIn an effort to keep our collectors informed of new arrivals, posts of interest to Zuni fetish collectors, the latest critters to visit our east Texas woods, rants, raves and rambles will be published HERE at the Zuni Spirits Blog. You may subscribe (& unsubscribe) at this link. | ||
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If you would like to read more about the Bear's characteristics and attributes