Exceptional Artifacts
Mineral Tree
The charming mineral tree—was a gift from Dr. Alfred Whittaker and his wife Jane when visiting me in 2000. The base of the tree is rose quartz. The leaves are sodalite, a mineral discovered by Karl Ludwig Giesecke between 1806 and 1808 during his long sojourn in Greenland when he was exploring the mineral reources and, incidently, flora on the west coast of that island.
Portrait of Karl Ludwig Giesecke by Sir Henry Raeburn, ca. 1813
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Giesecke's Collections Cabinet at the Royal Dublin Society
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- Karl Ludwig Giesecke was a librettist of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Use this link for more information.
- Dr. Alfred Whittaker has written an essay about Gieseck. Use this link for the essay.
- Dr. Alfred Whittaker has written an essay about mineralogy and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Use this link for more information.
Choose Your Direction
The Magic Flute, II,28.
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"(Die Liebe) mag den Weg mit Rosen streun, weil Rosen stets bei Dornen sein"
"(Love) may strew the path with roses, because roses always come with thorns" |
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