MICHAEL SCOTT COLLECTION OF GEMS AT BOWERS MUSEUM

Written by Rosemary Andrews Saturday, 11 September 2010 21:15

SANTA ANA, CA - In early 2002, Bowers Museum made history with the first public exhibition in a museum of the priceless Michael Scott gem collection. More than 250 exquisite pieces showing a rainbow range of colors and the rarity of stones displayed the scientific and artistic aspects of gemstones. It was then exhibited in 2005 at the Shanghai Museum where it was enjoyed by more than 850,000 visitors. Arguably the most important private gem collection in the United States, with few rivals in the world outside of the royal families, it’s back and features even more luxurious pieces. “GEMS! Colors of Light and Stone” opens on June 17, 2007 for a year-long run in the new Anderson-Hsu-Tu Gallery of Bowers Museum.

“’GEMS! Colors of Light and Stone’ is the most important exhibition of colored gemstones, diamonds and gems as art ever shown in a U.S. museum.,” says Dr. Peter Keller, president of Bowers Museum, who is also a geologist and gemologist and who curates this exhibit. “What is particularly impressive is that the collection was amassed by one individual in only about 14 years!”

Michael Scott, the first president of Apple Computer has a collection that rivals that of any national museum, if one excludes historic jewelry such as the Hope Diamond. The collection focuses on quality, but also on variety. In “GEMS! Colors of Light and Stone” one will see most of the major gem species in every color and variety known. In addition, one will see very rare examples of little known color varieties such as green tanzanites and "electric-blue" Paraiba tourmalines. It also includes 25 examples of cut “collector” stones—those too rare to be used in the general jewelry trade.

The Scott Collection and the exhibition also focus on gemstones as art, largely German gem carvings by artists Bernd Munsteiner and Gerd Dreher and the work of Seattle-based silversmith/contemporary artist, John Marshall, plus some antique jewelry from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries.

The exhibit will feature dramatic lighting to showcase each piece, from gems in their natural state and those faceted by master gem-cutter. “The Scott Collection exhibits some of the finest examples of both rough crystals and cut stones known in collections today,” says Keller. In addition, there will be gems displayed as jewelry and sculpture. “It will be a very comprehensive look at gemstones and gems as art through the eyes of a very serious collector,” says Keller.

What is a Gemstone?

Gems have been sought after for literally thousands of years. What is a gemstone? Gemologists believe that gemstones are any of the more than 4,000 known mineral species that have three distinguishing characteristics. A gemstone must be beautiful, which is the most basic requirement since gems are meant to be worn to enhance the wearer's appearance; a gemstone must be durable enough to withstand the rigors of being worn in jewelry; and lastly, a gemstone must be rare, but not too rare. For if a gemstone is too rare to be marketed to the public, it's still considered a gem, but it's a collector's stone not usually worn or even known of by the general public. Stones can also be beautiful and rare, but if they are not durable and can't be worn, they, too, are considered "collector stones." There are some spectacular examples of collector stones in the exhibit including ruby red rhodochrosite, diamond-like calcite and a wide range of fluorite or fluorescent colors.

Traditional Precious Stones

 The traditional "precious stones," diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, are well represented in this exhibition. In addition to a 25-carat natural octahedral diamond crystal, there is a 21.25-cut carat stone from the historic mines in India. Ruby and sapphire also are very well represented. Here, the same mineral, corundum, owes its complete color spectrum to various impurities. A few parts per million chromium allow for the rich red color of a ruby. That same mineral, with a few parts per million of iron will make the stone blue or, if the iron is oxidized, yellow. So it goes with an infinite variety of color possibilities.

Rare Stones

The rarest of a sapphire is in the exhibition. It's a 16-carat padparadscha sapphire that is the color of a pinkish-orange lotus flower. Emeralds from not only the historic mines in Colombia, but new discoveries in Nigeria are very exciting. One also will see what, for all practical purposes, is a red emerald. This rare mineral, known as bixbyte, has not been named commercially and is only found in the state of Utah. Imagine an emerald that is ruby red.

Geologic bodies known as pegmatites are famous among mineralogists for producing rare minerals and very large crystals. The state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, is the most famous locality for these gems, including tourmaline, aquamarine, kunzite, garnet, topaz and quartz. Another famous locality is San Diego County. The areas around Pala, Mesa Grande and Ramona have produced spectacular examples of these gems for more than 100 years. Many of these, including an incredible spessartite garnet necklace, are highlighted in “Colors of Light and Stone.”

Newly Discovered Species

Rarely are new gemstone species discovered. Two specimens in this exhibit, blue tanzanite and green tsavorite garnet, were both discovered in the late 1960s near the Kenya–Tanzania border, literally in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro. In “Colors of Light and Stone” there is a 242-carat tanzanite that is believed to be the world's largest and two tsavorites weighing 32.35 carats and 45.62 carats, which are among the world's largest.

Gems as Art

Man has been fashioning gem materials into works of art since the Romans carved bowls and cameos out of carnelian and the Han Dynasty Chinese were making ceremonial objects from jade at about the same time. “Colors of Light and Stone” is also about gems as art. Its strength is in the European traditions, particularly that found in a small village in Southwestern Germany known as Idar Oberstein. In addition to the traditional animal carvings done very much in the spirit of Fabergé, “Colors of Light and Stone” features the work of a master faceter, Bernd Munsteiner. In fact, the entire exhibition is capped off with the world's largest faceted gemstone…a 200 pound, or 500,000 carat, rutilated quartz titled “Metamorphos” by Munsteiner.

Finally, this exhibition features the work of Seattle-based master silversmith John Marshall. Marshall incorporates natural gem crystals into unusual silver sculptures to yield very unique works of art.

“What is extraordinary about this exhibit is the quality, diversity and size of these great gem species,” says Keller.

Bowers Museum is located at 2002 North Main Street in Santa Ana. Admission prices for eight exhibits that include “GEMS! Colors of Light and Stone.” One of Southern California’s finest museums and Orange County’s largest, Bowers Museum promotes human understanding through permanent collections and special exhibitions from the greatest museums in the world. Bowers has organized some of the most culturally significant exhibits in history, including “Secret World of Forbidden City,” “The Dead Sea Scrolls,” “Egyptian Treasures of The British Museum,” “Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World,” “Mummies: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt” and “Treasures from Shanghai: 5000 Years of Chinese Art and Culture.” Visit the Bowers Museum at : www.bowers.org