Epidote and Quartz (circa 1900 classic)

Item Description

Prince of Wales Island, barren and forbidding with awful weather, is one of the world's most famous producers of fine Epidotes. This cluster, with terminated Epidotes embedded with Quartz crystals, is a very good, large miniature that is highly representative for this great locality. The luster ranges from good to high, and the faces are also smooth to striated. The color is a typical deep, greenish-black, and the green most clearly presents itself on the reverse (contacted) side, which had an aesthetic all its own. The sheer size and quality of the Epidotes more than makes up for the contacting. Good Green Monster specimens are hard to find, especially in light of how difficult the collecting conditions are. Previously in the Miller collection from the 1800’s, after which it went to James B. Cone and the Wadsworth Atheneum, and then to the Loomis Chaffee School (this label style is known to have that history). ex George Elling Collection.