| Original Message: Scorzalite |
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Hello Gabriel, I am familiar with scorzalite, having seen the first such beads brought into the US from Mauritania in 1989 or 1990 (by Howard and Marie-José Opper—who then provided a good article about this material for Ornament). I believe I can tell scorzalite from lapis on-sight, in spite of their similarity. The surprising issue, for me, was the idea that there is lapis from this region. In my years of studying North African beads, I don't recall ever seeing any (imported) lapis—and I would be inclined to expect that any lapis beads found there are fairly recent. The same might be said for sodalite beads. Of course, this is a generalization, and there are bound to be some exceptions to it. I'm just saying I don't know of any. Although scorzalite is rare and expensive, I have handled at least three long necklaces of these beads, now in private collections. There is a very good strand at The Bead Museum. Jamey All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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