Fluorite with Quartz

Item Description

A classic Fluorite specimen from the Yaogangxian Mine in China, one of the premier localities for the species in the entire country, which is really saying something considering the dozens of mines that have produced excellent Fluorites over the last 25 years or so. This piece is a showy and fine quality small cabinet display piece hosting several very sharp, rather lustrous, gemmy, rich purple colored cubic crystals showing distinct and alluring internal "phantoms" measuring up to 1.7 cm on edge, associated with a handful of prismatic, gemmy colorless Quartz crystals, free of matrix. The underside of the piece features a light dusting of tan Muscovite, indicative of the locality. A few imperfections can be seen, so the piece is not completely undamaged, but still a showy and good overall example of these classic and desirable Fluorites from this prestigious locale.
The piece comes to us from the collection of Dr. Stephen Smale. 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/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.