Azurite (''floater'' ''rose'' group) (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

The Azurites from the Shilu Mine are among the best and most well-known examples of the species from any world locality. The distinctive habit and impressive size of the specimens makes them Chinese "classics" and icons in the mineral world. One simply does not see Azurites of this magnitude from any world locality. Do not let the quantity of Azurites from China dull your appreciation of a specimen such as this, as it predates virtually everything currently on the market. This piece is a superb, good, well-formed, deep blue color, fairly lustrous Azurite "rose" cluster comprising dozens if not hundreds of sharp, tabular layered crystal in almost "fan"-like arrangements. The piece is complete on every side, so it's a "floater" with no real point of attachment that I can find. The quality is fantastic for what it is, and the piece it sits and displays beautifully as you can see in the photos. This piece was valued at $4,000 in the inventory for the size, quality and aesthetics. Virtually nothing has come out of this mine and it's incredibly hard to find good pieces of this material on the market today to compare to this specimen. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.