Baryte (GEMMY crystals) with Cinnabar inclusions and crystals (classic material)

Item Description

A fantastic and notably showy / eye-catching, old-time classic specimen of the famous Clarashall Mine Barytes featuring multiple glassy, bladed, GEM/gemmy colorless crystals associated with rarely seen bright red micro Cinnabar inclusions, creating a soft reddish-brown hue at the base of the specimen. What makes this piece special is the fact that it not only features inclusions of Cinnabar on the lower portion, but there are visible Cinnabar CRYTALS actually sitting atop the Barite blades. For the size, quality, displayability and overall aesthetics, it's a choice example of this scarce material. Very few pieces from this mine are seen on the market these days, which makes sense since it closed in 1974, but it's important to stress that they are truly some of the better quality Barytes you'll find from any German locality, and the Cinnabar association just takes them to another level.
From the collection of Albert M. “Al” Liebetrau (1938-2023) and Suzanne "Sue" Liebetrau (# 3469).
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