Calcite (doubly-terminated) on Fluorite

Item Description

A classic specimen from the early 2000s at the Shangbao Mine featuring a 3.4 cm, sharp, well-formed, beautiful golden colored, doubly-terminated trigonal crystal of Calcite aesthetically perched on gemmy blue Fluorite matrix. At first, you might think the Fluorite is broken, but looking closely, I can see dozens if not hundreds of tiny crystal faces, making me think that the Fluorite might have been partially etched at some point and then recrystallized ("re-healed"). I love the sculptural elegance and three-dimensional form of the piece, certainly one of the most eye-catching and colorful examples of this now seldom-seen material from one of the great Chinese Fluorite/Calcite mines in history. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl (#458 C), a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. He was very active mineralogically until shortly before his passing in 2020 at the age of 82. Considering his collection had a large number of pieces, it still had an unusually high standard of quality from most worldwide localities. He particularly specialized in all classics as well as minerals of the Black Forest, where he spent much time collecting. His Black Forest and German subcollections went to his good friend Wolfgang Wendel. We at The Arkenstone have the privilege of offering the remainder of this great worldwide collection over the next two to three years through our various platforms. Priced at $1,800 in our inventory.