An important historic specimen, these intense lavender-colored amethysts with an almost silky texture to them are few and far between. This miniature has great aesthetics, with real rock matrix as a perch for 1 inch amethysts. It has never been cleaned, and so is a bit "dirty"; but I like the antique look of it. Note the handwritten label from William S. Vaux (1811-1882), whose collection formed the core of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. This piece, obviously, was traded out long ago befor ethe collections there went into storage and were eventually sold to a consortium of mineral dealers recently.