Azurite (early 1900s)

Item Description

Some of the finest of the old Tsumeb azurite really stands out from others, and from Mexican modern material as well: and this is one such style. This is an old, very unusual style of Tsumeb azurite that features thin, platy growths of azurite which seem to have grown upon larger crystals of malachite after azurite, which gave them the template and orientation to grow like this. It was purchased by Jack Halpern in 1991 from Gene Schlepp at the Tucson show. I have only seen a very few of these over the decades, and this would be considered excellent, especially for the size. The glassy luster and rich blue color are both superb, but it is the platy shape that leaps out at the eye - it is so unusually angular, especially for azurite. The piece seems to be a near floater, only slightly contacted on sides and on back. The tips are gemmy when backlit. It is hard to say what such a thing is worth, because so few of this habit have come to market. We are honored to present another deaccession to auction from the collection of Jack Halpern of San Francisco, as featured in the Mineralogical Record, March 2005. It sold originally to Tsumeb collector Alex Neufeld, and now flips back to the market out of his collection as well.