Bournonite (classic locality)

Item Description

Here we have a fine quality, impressive, small cabinet sized display specimen of these wonderful and iconic Bournonites from the Les Malines District (Gard area) in France. The mines in this areas date back to the 1880s and according to the information on mindat.org, mining was finished by 1993. These gorgeous Bournonites are among not only the finest examples of the species from any European locality, but anywhere in the world. It's quite rare to find such large and well-formed Bournonites on matrix like those seen on this piece, and they're all in excellent condition to boot! There is one contacted crystal on the upper back edge, and only a tiny bit of superficial imperfections to the main Bournonites, which you can't really see unless you look closely. The crystals show tabular form with a dark grey-black metallic appearance on the surface, which measure up to 3.7 cm across, sitting on a thin layer of dark reddish-brown Sphalerite on matrix. The Sphalerite are a sure sign that the piece is from Les Malines and not Bolivia or Peru or Mexico. Perhaps my favorite aspect of the piece is that the crystals are well-separated, not tightly intergrown as they often can be from this locality. A really choice example of these now notably hard to find, excellent Bournonites.
Valued $5,000-$6,000.
The piece originally was in the collection of Dr. Stephen Smale and his wife Clara. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 3337 Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information