Barite on Quartz (ex Paul Zerfass Collection)

Item Description

Large, robust, notably, thick blocky crystals of beautiful soft golden Barite (with soft blue zoning on the exterior of the crystals) measure up to a full 7.1 cm and are aesthetically set atop drusy sparkling Quartz crystals on matrix. This classic material from the Maine Mine was collected in the early 2000s, and is a far cry from the typical narrow prismatic crystals we've seen from this locality before. The piece is incredibly eye-catching, with dramatic form and for the size is in amazing condition. There are few small imperfections, but the piece is largely damage fee and displays beautifully from a few angles. This is certainly one of the best pieces of this particular material that we've had to offer, and would make a great addition to a Barite collection, a suite of French or European minerals or a nice cabinet display collection. From the collection of the long time, beloved, well-known French field collector, Paul Zerfass (Collection #550). Zerfass built this worldwide collection over nearly 50 years, many of which were personally collected. A biography featuring specimens from his collection (along with his face on the cover) is in the May - June 2017 issue of French mineral magazine, Le Regne Mineral. We have a .pdf copy of the article for anybody interested in reading it (though it's mostly in French). Just drop us a line and know that you'd like to have a copy.