Large Specimen of Whitby Jet (1800 to 1900 England)

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Jet

The venerable Bede writing in his 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', completed 731 AD states: [England] has much and excellent jet, which is black and sparkling, glittering at the fire, and, when heated, drives away serpents; being warmed with rubbing it holds fast whatever is applied to it, like amber.'
Jet is formed of fossilised wood originating in conifer forests that existed 170 million years ago. Jet comes from the ancestor of the Chilean Araucaria pine that grows on the slopes of the Andes, known in Britain since 1834, when a specimen was planted in Cornwall, as the 'monkey puzzle' tree.

An Unusual and Large Specimen of Whitby Jet
19th Century

Size: 20cm high, 21cm wide, 8cm deep – 8 ins high, 8¼ ins wide, 3 ins deep