Azurite and Malachite ex Roebling & Jack Halpern

Copper Queen Mine, Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona, USA
Large Cabinet, 19.4 x 11.8 x 10.0 cm
Start Time: 07/08/2021 7:00:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 07/17/2021 6:30:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed
Winning Bid: $4,485

Item Description

WOW. This has long been one of the big "color impact" pieces in the front of one of the many showcases that ring the basement display area of Jack Halpern's surround-sound-in-minerals room. It has a gorgeous, rich, velvety blue color that is hard to describe. The contrast of textures and shape in the mix of roling blue azurite and roling patterned malachite here is complex, interesting, and really quite unique to Bisbee material. There are multiple intergrown generations here, showing the complexity of the deposit. This is an old specimen from the pre-WWI era of copper mining when Arizona was the rising copper king of America. This specimen was originally in the washington Roebling Collection which was purchased and trucked to the Smithsonian (Washington Roebling : the man who built the Brooklyn Bridge! see for more on minerals: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/roeblingwashington-a/). It was later traded out and sold to collector Carl Stentz, whose label notes the provenance from his acquisition (many of the thousands of Roebling pieces were traded out in the time of curator Paul Desautels if they did not fit his taste and style at the museum). This then sold to San Francisco area collector Cliff Krueger, who had a fantastic collection specializing in cabinet specimens. After he passed away (nearly 20 years ago, see; https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/kruegerclifford-j/), Jack was allowed first choice from the estate and made a number of purchases that bulked up the Halpern collection with color and size, and this became #3144 in Jack's own collection. This is a large, significant, pristine, and colorful remnant of America's historic copper mining history, and it is such a unique and organic specimen that it stands out among other Bisbee pieces we have seen and sold. 1730 grams (3.8 pounds weight). Such large Bisbee specimens anyways are valued in the five figures, and this is a really unique style.

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Bidding History

Bid Amount Bid Time
$4,485 07/17/2021 6:11:59 pm (CDT)
$4,450 07/17/2021 6:11:59 pm (CDT)
$4,435 07/17/2021 6:11:49 pm (CDT)
$4,385 07/17/2021 6:11:49 pm (CDT)
$4,335 07/17/2021 6:11:39 pm (CDT)
$4,285 07/17/2021 6:11:39 pm (CDT)
$4,235 07/17/2021 6:11:29 pm (CDT)
$4,185 07/17/2021 6:11:29 pm (CDT)
$4,135 07/17/2021 6:11:14 pm (CDT)
$4,085 07/17/2021 6:11:14 pm (CDT)
$4,035 07/17/2021 6:11:01 pm (CDT)
$3,985 07/17/2021 6:11:01 pm (CDT)
$3,835 07/17/2021 6:10:25 pm (CDT)
$3,785 07/17/2021 6:10:25 pm (CDT)
$3,735 07/17/2021 6:10:15 pm (CDT)
$3,685 07/17/2021 6:10:14 pm (CDT)
$3,635 07/17/2021 6:10:05 pm (CDT)
$3,585 07/17/2021 6:10:05 pm (CDT)
$3,535 07/17/2021 6:09:53 pm (CDT)
$3,485 07/17/2021 6:09:53 pm (CDT)
$3,435 07/17/2021 5:36:53 pm (CDT)
$3,385 07/17/2021 5:36:53 pm (CDT)
$3,050 07/17/2021 3:34:04 pm (CDT)
$3,000 07/17/2021 3:34:04 pm (CDT)
$2,938 07/16/2021 2:06:29 pm (CDT)
$2,888 07/16/2021 2:06:29 pm (CDT)
$2,625 07/16/2021 9:41:16 am (CDT)
$2,575 07/16/2021 9:41:16 am (CDT)
$2,325 07/10/2021 2:01:51 pm (CDT)
$2,275 07/10/2021 2:01:51 pm (CDT)
$1,900 07/10/2021 2:01:30 pm (CDT)
$1,850 07/10/2021 2:01:30 pm (CDT)
$1,200 07/10/2021 4:39:23 am (CDT)
$1,150 07/09/2021 2:18:44 am (CDT)
$1,100 07/09/2021 2:18:35 am (CDT)
$1,050 07/09/2021 2:18:35 am (CDT)
$1,000 07/09/2021 2:18:19 am (CDT)
$975 07/09/2021 2:18:19 am (CDT)
$950 07/09/2021 2:17:41 am (CDT)
$925 07/09/2021 2:17:41 am (CDT)
$900 07/09/2021 2:17:21 am (CDT)
$875 07/09/2021 2:17:21 am (CDT)
$850 07/09/2021 2:15:56 am (CDT)
$825 07/09/2021 2:15:56 am (CDT)
$800 07/09/2021 2:15:47 am (CDT)
$775 07/09/2021 2:15:47 am (CDT)
$750 07/09/2021 2:15:41 am (CDT)
$725 07/09/2021 2:15:41 am (CDT)
$700 07/09/2021 2:15:34 am (CDT)
$675 07/09/2021 2:15:34 am (CDT)
$650 07/09/2021 2:15:27 am (CDT)
$625 07/09/2021 2:15:27 am (CDT)
$600 07/09/2021 2:15:19 am (CDT)
$575 07/09/2021 2:15:19 am (CDT)
$550 07/09/2021 2:15:12 am (CDT)
$525 07/09/2021 2:15:12 am (CDT)
$500 07/09/2021 2:15:02 am (CDT)
$490 07/09/2021 2:15:02 am (CDT)
$480 07/09/2021 2:14:51 am (CDT)
$470 07/09/2021 2:14:51 am (CDT)
$460 07/09/2021 2:14:42 am (CDT)
$450 07/09/2021 2:14:42 am (CDT)
$440 07/09/2021 2:14:33 am (CDT)
$430 07/09/2021 2:14:33 am (CDT)
$420 07/09/2021 2:14:14 am (CDT)
$410 07/09/2021 2:14:14 am (CDT)
$400 07/09/2021 2:14:06 am (CDT)
$390 07/09/2021 2:14:06 am (CDT)
$380 07/09/2021 2:13:47 am (CDT)
$370 07/09/2021 2:13:47 am (CDT)
$360 07/08/2021 10:46:24 pm (CDT)
$350 07/08/2021 10:46:24 pm (CDT)
$130 07/08/2021 9:28:03 pm (CDT)
$120 07/08/2021 9:28:03 pm (CDT)
$110 07/08/2021 9:08:04 pm (CDT)
$100 07/08/2021 7:37:53 pm (CDT)