Vintage Botswana Banded Agate Snuff Bottle

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This is another pretty banded agate bottle from One of the prettiest banded agates from the Bobonong district, Botswana, South … Read more This is another pretty banded agate bottle from One of the prettiest banded agates from the Bobonong district, Botswana, South Africa. The quantity of this mineral is limited. It is by far, a superior form of agate due to the near perfect banding of white, black, grey brown and sometimes blue. This snuff bottle is of a flattened rectangular form with broad shoulders tapering towards the bottom which has a small raised oval foot. The body of the bottle is a dark brown with bands of white cream-toned and pale and dark brown bands in a very dramatic angular alignment. On one side is an "eye," The snuff bottle carver paid careful attention to cut the stone to display the bands to their best advantage. The shoulders drop down to straight sides with carvings of an abstract design of a animal mask with a ring, a tradition that harks back to the archaic bronze vessels of bronze age China. The cap is a matching brown agate with a cork stopper.
Dating: post 1970's

Dimensions: 2 inches wide, 3/4 inch deep and 2 3/4 inches high

Condition: almost new, good condition See less