Azurite with minor Malachite

Item Description

We have seen Azurite in a variety of styles from Tsumeb and everywhere else...however, this is one dramatic, unusual and large fan-like spray! This hemispherical group is seven inches across four inches from top to bottom. It is a huge and unusually fine example of this style of Tsumeb azurite which was found both in the old era pre 1920, and again in modern mining ventures in the late 1990s (although those ventures failed, and produced little else). There are literally hundreds of Azurite crystals here ranging from a few millimeters at the core of the piece with the semicircular fan of Azurite crystals consisting of dozens upon dozens of nearly parallel, thinly bladed crystals from 1 to nearly 5 cm in length, all having a satin luster with some partially altering to Malachite in feathery patches. Overall, the piece almost resembles an Aztec headdress its that dramatic and impactful! There is some clay in the interstices between the crystals, especially the smaller ones in the core of the piece on both sides, that could be removed to improve its displayability. There is very little damage on this striking specimen. We have never seen anything like this from Tsumeb or elsewhere in such size, and it had a place of honor in one of the showcases of the Pohl Tsumeb collection. Valued $7500-plus.