Oregon Opal Carving Depicting a Sea Turtle


Opal Butte, Morrow County, Oregon Opal Butte opal is a rare precious stone mined from the depths of the Opal Butte in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. This unique silica-rich opal is found within geode-like structures called thunder eggs, formed 65 million years ago by lava flow. Opal Butte is one of the few active precious opal mines in the world today. Carved from a single large specimen of opal-in-matrix, bright orange opal is used in the carving to suggest a clutch of sea turtle eggs, hidden in the brown matrix of the host rock, while the mother sea turtle lies nearby to protect her offspring. The composition is raised on a black onyx base having a shaped, beveled-edge. Measuring 10 x 7 x 8 1/2in