Ancient Pre-Columbian JADEITE BEAD 19mm x 9mm (7 grams)

Description

My mother, Kathryn Swenson, was a Pre-Columbian authenticator and directed the Houston location of the Andre Emmerich Gallery in the 50's. Later she started her own gallery called "The New Arts". These beads are from her private collection.
She collected these artifacts in the 1950's and 1960's during trips to Mexico with Joan Crystal of the Louisiana Gallery.
Jadeite, also referred to as greenstone, very rarely occurs in nature separately; usually, it can be found in association with serpentinite, quartz, aluminum, etc. Moreover, jadeite almost never occurs in a pure form.
I show the hole because it will indicate whether the bead is authentic. It almost always will be larger at the opening then getting narrow towards the middle, known as biconically drilled. It will also have calcium deposits in the drill hole and sometimes on the bead. The drill hole will never look clean.
Here's a link to an interview that mentions my mother called Houston Reflections: Art in the City, 1950's (see "Remembering Commercial Galleries"):https://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]:QJdUMU8b@1/Jim-Love-1927-2005
See obituary about Joan Crystal:https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/passages/obituaries/article/Influential-Houston-art-dealer-Crystal-dies-7220075.php