Natural Howlite Hand Carved Crystal Butterfly Set (4pcs)

A butterfly set pcs worked in howlite. At 58 inches and 80 g it wants a shelf of its own rather than a desk corner.

Howlite is a soft borate mineral — around 3.5 on the Mohs scale — which is why it can hold the fine detail you see here and also why it wants gentler handling than quartz. The grey webbing is natural veining that formed as the nodule grew.

The difficulty in an animal figure is mass rather than detail: getting the shoulder, haunch and neck to carry weight convincingly while staying within the block the carver started from.

Item ID 3100182
Material 100% natural howlite
Size 58 × 30 × 5 in
Weight 80 g