A large and very rare sceptered amethyst from Korea, with a custom wooden base. Amethyst mining in this area goes back over a thousand years to (at least) the Silla period, and has continued intermittently since, with work being carried out by locals, by the Japanese during the occupation, and most recently by a Korean mining company in the 1980"s. Today, the excavated caves are home to a sort of amusement park. These specimens are undoubtedly old, and represent particularly fine examples of this rare material. More recently, sceptered amethysts have been found in Namibia and Madagascar. Prior to those African finds, Korean amethysts scepters were among the most sought after. These days, given the rarity of Korean pieces, and the abundance of pieces from Africa, these remain largely forgotten. The color on this one is a bit lighter, and there is some contacting on the reverse. The price takes this into account.