Fluorite on Arsenopyrite (ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection)

Item Description

This remote Chinese locality has become a prolific producer of fine quality crystallized specimens. This beautiful and aesthetic small cabinet display specimen hosts, limpid, colorless, octahedral Fluorite crystals sitting atop a three-dimensional group of dark silvery colored block Arsenopyrite. The entire Fluorite crystal group measures 4.7 cm across. You can see that the crystals are rather gemmy internally, almost water clear in areas. Overall, the piece is in superb condition, as I cannot find any major damage to the Fluorite group, just a tiny bit of roughness along one edge, and a small contact on the back where it was attached to the pocket wall. The piece actually sits quite beautifully on its own without the aid of a base or clay as you can see in the photos. A wonderful and showy example of this gorgeous material. Priced at $1,500 in the inventory. Ex Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/labels.asp?colid=671&page=1 ) or on Wikipedia.