Azurite and Malachite on Fluorite (rare association)

Item Description

While there are many localities in Morocco where Azurite has been found, the pieces from Aouli (along with those from Sidi Ayed) are notably distinctive because they are associated with Fluorite, which itself is not a rare species, but to find it with secondary ore minerals is certainly hard to find. This showy small cabinet display specimen features sparkling, drusy, rich glowing blue colored Azurite crystals, along with soft minty green velvety Malachite partially coating cubic crystals of gemmy, light silvery-yellow colored Fluorite, which measure up to 1.0 cm on edge. Minor roughness in spots can be seen, but overall the piece is in good condition, and the strong blue and green colors of the Malachite against the Fluorite and brownish oxidation on the surface of the matrix makes for a stellar contrast.
From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#238 Mo), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection through our various platforms.