Baryte (fine classic locality specimen)

Item Description

A gorgeous, three-dimensional display specimen of this classic material from the Settlingstones Mine in Northumberland, England. These fine quality and elusive Baryte specimens date back at least to the early 1900s and are signature minerals from the area. This piece is a wonderfully eye-catching "stalactitic" group composed of dozens of very sharp, well-formed, stout, "spear"-shaped crystals of white Baryte, with individual crystals measuring up to 1.3 cm long, which can be seen on all sides of the specimen. I have looked the piece over thoroughly, and I honestly can't find any damage with the naked eye, save the very base of the piece where it was separated from the pocket wall. Pieces of this material are seldom available on the market, especially in such supreme, undamaged examples. If you collect worldwide Barytes or minerals of northern England, this is a top-notch example that you're not likely find anywhere else on the market in such quality.
From the collection of Albert M. “Al” Liebetrau (1938-2023) and Suzanne "Sue" Liebetrau (# Ba 2313).
Both Al and Sue were from Wisconsin originally, but lived in various places in the US and Europe, eventually ending up in Oregon. Al was a teacher (from high school to the university level) and statistician with degrees in math and statistics, and Sue taught English and worked as a technical editor for Battelle Memorial Institute. While Al has since passed away, Sue is still a very active member of the mineral collecting community. The Liebetraus were married for over 60 years (they were married in 1960) and assembled a world-class collection of fine quality crystallized display specimens, along with one of the great fluorescent mineral collections in the United States. Incidentally, Al was the former president of the Fluorescent Mineral Society, and was the main person in charge of putting together the massive number of displays at the 2021 Tucson Show (fluorescent minerals was the theme that year).
Mineral specimens from their collection have won multiple awards at various shows, including the prestigious Lidstrom Trophy for the best mineral specimen at the TGMS Show in Tucson, along with the Desautels Trophy for the best case. Additionally, the Liebetraus were awarded the Romero Award for best Mexican specimen, and the Bideaux Trophy for best Arizona specimen.
You can read more about Al and Sue and their lives at the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00357529.2023.2236000