Desautelsite (very rare) with autographed photo and label by Paul Desautels and Thomas Palmer!

Item Description

This is a wonderful specimen of the rare hydrated magnesium manganese carbonate mineral, Desautelsite, named in honor of the former Curator of Minerals at the Smithsonian, Paul Desautels (1920-1991). Paul was one of the most knowledgeable, influential and eminent curators of any museum in the 20th century. The mineral was first discovered at the Cedar Hill Quarry (Stoltzfuss Quarry) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and named after Desautels in 1979. The species was described in part by Thomas Palmer of El Paso, Texas (see http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM64/AM64_127.pdf), and he has a direct connection to this particular specimen. The piece was a gift from Palmer to Will Frech on July 16, 1978, and because of Palmer's relationship with Desautels, there is a signed photograph of both men that accompanies the piece, along with a label that bears both mens' signatures. The reverse side of the Palmer label (Crystal Cavern Minerals) has a hand-written note from Palmer that reads, "To my good friend Will Frech". The Desautelsite is rare enough, but to have an autographed photo of two men who were directly connected to the species, along with the signed label makes it all the more desirable. This kind of pedigree is virtually impossible to obtain for any specimen. The piece was later purchased from Will Frech's son by Carter Rich and Jim Minette in February of 2000, and eventually ended up in George's collection. The piece is from the Artinite Pit in San Benito County, and features a patch of deep orange colored micro crystals of Desautelsite with minor white "needles" of Artinite on host rock matrix. We have photographed the piece with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the crystals. A fantastic piece of this already incredibly rare mineral with documented lineage from several decades ago that makes it a truly singular and highly desirable specimen for anybody who appreciates this kind of pedigree.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 16b.6.2.4 CA.2; 4663 George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece 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 specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information