Cinnabar (fine crystals) on Dolomite

Item Description

A beautiful older specimen from the Chatian Mine featuring several fine quality, sharp, lustrous, well-formed Cinnabar crystals measuring up to 5 mm showing a deep red metallic hue on the surface, but they GLOW with a fiery blood red color internally when backlit. The Cinnabar crystals are sitting on cream colored Dolomite rhombs, as is often the case with this material. It's not common to find eye-catching thumbnails of this material, and considering nothing new has come out in years, they are even harder to find on the market in any capacity.
From the collection of Daniel (Dan) W. Behnke (July 31, 1932 - January 20, 2020) of Glenview, Illinois. Dan was an Associate Photographer of both the Mineralogical Record and Rock and Minerals magazines. He served as the Micromount chairman of the Midwest Federation of Mineralogical Societies from 1981 to 1988. He was elected to the National Board of Directors of the Friends of Mineralogy in 1989, and the Micromounters Hall of Fame in 2007. He was a beloved member of the mineral collecting community, most notably for his supreme skill at photomicrography. If you've ever seen any of Dan's micro photos on mindat.org, it's easy to see why he was one of the best in this field. You can read his obituary at https://www.nhscotthanekamp.com/obituaries/Daniel-W-Behnke?obId=10633628