THE FLAME QUEEN
“_But who can paint
Like Nature? Can imagination boast
Amid its gay creation hues like hers?_”
THOMSON.
The Flame Queen, the rarest stone yet won from the barren sun-baked opal
fields of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, near the borders of
Queensland, Australia—takes its place amongst the famous gems of the
world.
It is a large oval-shaped stone measuring 2.8 inches by 2.3 inches and
weighing 253 carats. In structure and colour phenomena it is unique—the
centre slightly in relief whilst the surrounding border stands out
boldly as a frame to a picture. Looking directly on to the stone the
inspiration of the name becomes manifest. The centre, a deep flame,
burns scarlet, and two slight depressions almost parallel to each other
give the impression of fire mountains in eruptive action, the lower of
which flings two triangular shafts towards the enclosing green frame.
Viewed from another angle the burning centre yields as if by magic to a
field of cool yet vivid emerald, and the frame to a royal blue. Another
angle shows a bronze centre touched with points of darker hue within a
frame of changing blue and amethyst. The stone is chameleon-like,
bewildering in its living beauty.
[Illustration:
Other Aspects of the Great Opal “The Flame Queen”
Kelsey I. Newman Collection
_See also Frontispiece_
]
This stone is the choicest gem in the Kelsey I. Newman collection of
rare opals and precious stones. On the 6th of March, 1916, Mr. Allan
Harris of Brisbane submitted the gem to the Queensland Geological
Survey. In the course of his report Mr. B. Dunstan, the chief Government
Geologist, mentions that the back of the stone “is impressed with what
appears to be a fossil plant called GINKO, which occurs in the Jurassic
ricks of Queensland but not in association with any opal deposits. The
stone is a wonderful specimen and much the largest gem of its class that
has ever come under my notice.” This beautiful opal—unlike some other
famous gems mentioned in this book—is said to have brought good fortune
to all who have been associated with it.