66mm x 31mm
67mm x 31mm
This agate was found by myself in May 2016, in an easily accessible area of shingle.
It's pleasingly organic. If you keep staring the tendril infested interior begins to writhe and pulsate. It is fitting that this is the largest agate I have found in that particular area, and also the most unusual.
If we note that many of the stalactitic formations, (strikingly similar to Hydrozoan tentacles) become questing, meandering tubes at the tips, then we also see that the stalactites at the base in the central areas appear in more zeolitic arrangements. In fact at least one is horizontal. Being so haphazardly thrown through the clear crystalline chalcedony, they resemble a deep forest deadfall.
Stalactites are rarely as long, highly detailed, or as dense as those seen here. I have no
comparable specimen. In the area where this stone was found, agates of its type are not common. To me it exhibits something of the macabre, being devoid of any banding or pattern of regularity, yet seeming to be full of movement. I see something new in it each day. Of course, one must be careful as the markings in agates DO change as a stone dries out after cutting, especially if it is composed of particularly porous chalcedony. Anyway, this is one of my all-time favourite agates, and one of my top ten stones of 2016. Actually, in retrospect as of writing (26/09/2016) this is my #1 agate of 2016.