4.8" Carved Blue Calcite Zuni Bear - California

What Is A Zuni Bear?

A Zuni Bear is a small, traditional Zuni Pueblo carving that represents strength, healing, and protection, typically shaped in a compact, stylized form with a broad, arched back, sturdy legs, and a gently tapered snout that gives it a powerful, grounded profile. These carvings are often made from stones like turquoise, jet, serpentine, or alabaster, and may feature inlaid eyes, a symbolic heartline, or a small offering bundle tied across the back. The bear is regarded as a guardian of the West in Zuni tradition, valued not only as a spiritual totem associated with courage and inner wisdom but also as a collectible work of Native American artistry.

California Blue Calcite

Blue calcite from the historic Crestmore Quarries in Riverside County, California is one of the locality’s most recognizable and sought-after minerals. Formed within a complex zone of contact-metamorphosed limestone, this calcite develops soft to vivid blue hues caused by subtle chemical impurities and the unique geologic conditions that shaped the famous Sky Blue Hill deposits. Collectors prize Crestmore blue calcite for its soothing color, excellent translucency, and the way it often contrasts beautifully with associated calc-silicate minerals such as vesuvianite, diopside, tilleyite, and monticellite—species that helped make Crestmore a legendary mineralogical site.

Mining at Crestmore dates back to the early 20th century, when quarrying operations exposed an extraordinary variety of rare and unusual minerals. Among them, blue calcite became a signature material, appearing in veins, cleavable masses, and crystalline pockets throughout the Commercial and Wet Weather Quarries. Although the original workings are no longer active and access is extremely limited today, Crestmore blue calcite remains a classic California collectible, known for both its beauty and its connection to one of the most historically significant mineral localities in the United States.