gems, jewelry, corundum, quality.10, Morgan Collection, glyptic

Sinkankas: This very large, beautiful, and superbly produced book was manufactured from the finest materials as befitted the tastes and the pocketbook of J. Pierpont Morgan, and provides one of the finest collection catalogs of all time. Even more lavish is the de luxe version described below. The depicted and described objects fall into the following classes: jewels, portraits in wax, carved woodwork, rock crystal and glass, gold and silver plate, and others made from various precious materials, and the precious objects of Prince’s Gate. The gemologist will find the section containing rock crystal carvings and containers the most interesting for its discourses on the nature and occurrences of rock crystal, and the artisans responsible for the execution of a considerable number of the larger vessels and other objects made from quartz. The section on miscellaneous objects made from precious materials also contains interesting matter on gemstone objects made from cryptocrystalline quartzes, and also a sole example of carved jade. Elsewhere objects are made in part from pearl, nacre, amber, diamond, emerald, corundum, peridot, topaz, turquoise, etc. John Pierpont Morgan: b. Hartford, Conn., 1837; educated in Switzerland & Germany; entered the financial field 1856; formed own company 1895; formed United States Steel Corporation 1901. Eminent art collector, rare book collector, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; benefactor of this and the American Museum of Natural History (Morgan Collection of Gems); d. NYC 1913. See Pierpont Morgan as Collector and Patron 1837–1913, New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1970, wrappers, 39 p., ill.

corundum, Sri Lanka.12, gems

Sinkankas: Describes the rock groups, mineral occurrences, typical deposits, rocks of secondary origin, fossils, and recent sedimentary rocks of Ceylon, together with gems and gem mining, a list of gemstones, and the arrangement of the mineral gallery at the Colombo Museum. Not seen; some sources identify the original publication as Spolia Zeylanica, Vol. 3, Part 9, March 1905, pp. 50–66, and also record its inclusion in the Colombo Museum’s Guide to the Collections (1905).

corundum, ruby, sapphire, Sri Lanka.12, gems

A concise account of the crystalline rocks of Ceylon, intended to summarize their character and classification as then understood. Coomaraswamy discusses the terminology of “gneiss” and “granulite,” preferring the latter for many Ceylonese rocks, and regards them as belonging to the Charnockite Series described from southern India, the two regions forming a closely related petrographical province. He describes the principal rock types and their mineral banding, together with the crystalline limestones and rocks intermediate between limestone and granulite. The latter may contain diopside, phlogopite, amphibole, scapolite, spinel, sphene, calcite and, more rarely, serendibite, and may occur at limestone–granulite contacts, as inclusions, dykes or bands; some also yield mica of commercial value. Coomaraswamy argues that, whatever their ultimate origin, the crystalline limestones were essentially contemporaneous with the granulites and crystallized under broadly comparable high-temperature conditions. He also distinguishes the wollastonite-bearing Galle group and discusses the structural geology of the crystalline series, particularly foliation, folding and the influence of rock structure on the development of parallel strike valleys such as those around Hatton. The paper is an important early synthesis of Ceylon’s Precambrian crystalline geology and provides geological context for the mineral and gem deposits associated with these rocks.

corundum, China.12, gems

Describes occurrence of ruby, sapphire and green sapphire in western Yunnan (as in Shunning Fu prefecture); reprinted from Mesny’s Chinese Miscellany, published at Shanghai, China.

corundum, USA.12, Montana.12, gems

Various reports on the ups and downs of mining sapphire at Yogo Gulch, Montana.

corundum, USA.12, North Dakota.12, gems

corundum, ruby, India.12, gems

corundum, quality.10, gems

Contains the sale of a ruby 46.75 cts (48.019 metric carats) purported to be the Mandalay ruby

corundum, India.12, gems

An early geological note on corundum deposits in southern Mysore, listed in Part 1 of Volume I of the Records of the Mysore Geological Department, covering 1894–1897.

corundum, sapphire, Kashmir.12, India.12, gems

Plowden’s report, excerpted in Watt’s dictionary, provides an eyewitness description of the location and geological setting of the Kashmir sapphire deposits. Approaching from Golabgarh in Padar, at the junction of the Bhutna stream and the Chenab River, he followed the Bhutna valley toward Pzanskar, reaching the village of Suniyan after two easy days’ travel. He places the sapphire workings in a small valley about two miles northwest of Suniyan, near the southern end of a mountain spur between Suniyan and Machial. Much of the valley floor was covered with boulders and rock fragments fallen from the surrounding cliffs, and sapphires were being recovered among this debris when he visited. He describes the cliffs as micaceous gneiss interstratified with crystalline siliceous limestone and traversed by granite veins. According to his interpretation, corundum crystals developed in parts of these granite veins, with sufficiently well-colored material constituting sapphire. The account supplies a specific locality and an explanation of the relationship between the gem-bearing debris and the surrounding rocks, helping resolve conflicting contemporary reports about the source of Kashmir sapphires.