This polished egg is a mineral sample in a stone known as blue john. The Harris cares for 781 examples of mineral samples –largely eggs like this, but also paperweights and ashtrays. This sizeable collection was put together by Mrs Idonea French (1880-1964) a Dublin-born collector, based in Kent. She spent a lifetime collecting small decorative objects like mineral samples, gaming counters and scent bottles. The minerals in the collection vary in colour and character and include fiberous gypsum, fluorspar, barytes, calcite, limestone and quartz to name just a few.