Quartz var: Chalcedony var: Agate (Laguna Agate) (''Happy Face'')

Item Description

Laguna Agates are renowned for their superb colors and banding patterns, which are in the higher tiers of Agates on a worldwide scale. Typically the nodules are cut open and polished to reveal their excellent internal appearance, but this piece is a notable thin polished slice which is cut in a way that it can be backlit, showing not only a wonderful mixture of warm red and orange hues, but the most important aspect is that there is a clear "happy face" image that can be seen in the center of the slice. I've only seen a few Laguna Agates over the years where some kind of anthropomorphism is can be seen, typically in the form of facial features like this piece, but this is the first polished slice I can remember that shows a face like this. A really attractive and highly desirable specimen of this classic material. Specimen weight is 38.2 grams.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 1451. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information