Barite included with Realgar (rare)

Item Description

This is an incredible old piece from a trickle of small finds that I am told came out in the 1950s and 1960s. It is certainly one of the better of the few specimens, that I have seen of the habit. This specimen features many intergrown, color zoned (tan to red), translucent and lustrous crystals of barite. The largest spearpoint measures a whopping 4.3 cm tall and 3.2 cm wide. The red or ocher color is due to small amounts of included realgar, which is not uncommon from this locality per se. It is very rare included in barite, however. When it is included, the inclusions tend to be uniformly dispersed to make for "red barite", of a uniform brick-red color. I had only before ever seen in person 2 or 3 of these specimens, showing oriented or directionalized inclusions of the realgar clearly placed in different layers of the barite, and said to be from the older finds. The piece is, obviously, striking and worth a certain amount for beauty. But I"ll add that it is of a very unique style that, so much as I know, does not occur anywhere else in the world to date. Valued $900-1200