Carved Elephant Ceremonial Gavel W ooden Cask 26 VISIT OR GUIDE J asper J asper is a hard dense form of c halcedon y a variety of quar tz Usually mot tled in shades of red yellow and brown its color s come from fnely di vided iron o xide minerals hematite and goethite mixed into its tin y inter loc king quar tz crystals J asper is of ten associated with deposits of iron ore It is valued as a gemstone and for its ornamental qualities Gift from Lee Gladish GSA staff member Carv ed Elephant This carved elephant is one of four suc h sculptures prob ably purc hased by RAF P enrose Jr during his travels in Burma in 1 90 1 The other three are located in the P enrose R oom on the fr st foor Cur lew Deco y and Book Handcarved curlew decoy and copy 68 of 550 of American Decoys published 25 December 1 972 Gift from V olk er K erchoften W eather ed Sandst one This Cretaceous Dakota S andstone from Grand County Colorado has been weathered and shaped by windblown sand by rain and moisture and by temperature extremes The sandstone i t s e l f i s l i g h t i n c o l o r b u t a blac k coating developed while the boulder sat exposed to the weather due to t h e o x i d a t i o n o f m a n g a n e s e a n d iron deposited at its surface Cer emonial Ga v el The head of this ceremonial g avel is cut from jasper conglomerate of P recambrian age from Bruce Mines Ontario The handle is of wood that is about 600 0 0 year s old The wood w as unco vered in an interglacial peat bed at L es V ieilles F orges near Three Ri ver s Quebec Be cause the original handle w as brok en when the Council w as fr st called to order with it the g avel is no longer used Gift from the Geological Surv e y of Canada 1961 Calcit e Ang el Wings These pure white tabular crystals of calcite seem to form angel wings They possibly formed in a cavern where the delicate wings had room to grow Gift from Rose Ann Ny ari W ooden Cask This cask from the W aik ato V alley of New Zealand w as fashioned from wood that is at least 1 00 0 0 year s old The wood is from the freravaged remains of an ancient forest that w as co vered by molten lava during a v olcanic eruption Gift from Robert F Legget Otta w a Ontario Canada a for mer president of the Society F ossil Plants The fossil plants preserved in this specimen grew in a sw ampy area 30 0 million year s ago They were buried by dark muds that were eventually compressed and cemented to form the blac k shale that now holds the thin carbon traces