Tiny Comet

Cut down the length of the cone so the face comes out as a broad arrowhead, wide across the top and tapering to a blunt rounded tip, with a scalloped edge where the scale ends break the outline. Near the top the core sits as a small ochre disc ringed in pale cream, and from it the scales stream down in long cream and rust rays with dark brown lines between the rows. The rays close up in the lower half into a red-brown band, and below that the grain runs on down in tan and honey to the bottom edge. The other face is the outside of the cone, stacked arcs of rust and tan with fine white dots along each ridge and a few small seed ends near the middle.

The resin lies thick and glassy over the cut face and rounds off at the rim, so the scalloped tips are sealed flush, and it throws a violet flash down one side in the light. A few small bubbles are caught near the core. It hangs from a coiled brass loop on a pale braided cord, and the bright core stays the first thing you see as it turns.