The Magic Of Amber

By Rosa Hunger
Chilton Book Company
1979 ISBN 0-8019-6854-2

Chilton Book Company writes:

The Magic of Amber is a fascinating and popular guide to one of the world’s oldest yet least known gemstones. In fact, amber is not a ‘stone’ at all, but a fossilized resin from pine trees that grew some fifty million years ago, and it is part of its mystery and visual appeal that just a few pieces captured for eternity complete insects like flies, spiders and beetles, as well as small flowers, leaves and pieces of bark—presented now in their own miniature ‘showcase’ to be seen and studied all these years later.

But what makes amber so individual is that every piece is unique giving an infinite variety of optical effects in different lights. It is found in a wide range of colors—from the nearly black and deep ruby red, to browns, deep golds and pale yellows, greens and rarer blues, to almost white opaque ambers that resemble ivory. Add to this its warmth, lightness and almost therapeutic quality when touched, and it is small wonder that amber has been so highly prized for thousands of years and has been the object of such fine craftsmanship—particularly in the Orient, Prussia and Germany.

Rosa Hunger has spent all her working life in the amber trade, and there can be few more qualified than her to fill the lengthy gap in English works on amber. Her book is a comprehensive survey of amber from its formation in the depths of time to the latest discoveries in Lithuania and the Dominican Republic. She charts its rises and falls in fashion in the Stone and Bronze ages, Prehistoric, Roman and Medieval times, and describes the achievements of the 16th and 17th centuries—the Golden Age of amber working, the Baroque period to Victorian times and the present day. There are also chapters on rare ambers, how to distinguish amber from its imitations, its care and display, the response of writers to its beauty and the author’s recollections of her family’s trading in amber. Illustrated in both color and black and white, The Magic of Amber will prove of value to collectors, investors and dealers to amber jewelry and objects d’art—or anyone with a feeling for beautiful things, as well as filling a long term gap in the coverage of this glorious gemstone.