Epidote (ex Roebling circa 1900, Smithsonian)

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 to 4.4 cm, is a very fine and aesthetic, small cabinet specimen for this great locality. It is an old style, and few smaller pieces of quality were presewrved in that time, at the turn of the 1900s. The luster, and texture, is strong and helps define the sharp geometries here. The color is a typical deep, greenish-black. Naturally, there is some contacting, but the sheer size and quality of the Epidotes more than makes up for that. Good Green Monster specimens are hard to find, especially in light of how difficult the collecting conditions are; and so this is not only a superb historic specimen but the rare example of those that actually are aesthetic - and valued - by todays's standards. Even more of a rarity! We valued this at $3000-ish quite reasonably but then again if you disagree, go try to find a better one in the size range, and with such provenance to the early 1900s era of exploration here...I do not think many are out there.