Graphite (ex Van Tichelen and Hageman Collections)

Item Description

What a beautiful and rare specimen of native carbon in the form of Graphite. The piece has a beautiful silvery-grey metallic appearance with a smooth, flowing, "wave"-like form. It somewhat reminds me of specimens of Cylindrite I've seen from Bolivia. It shows one dominant, protruding crystal that stands out like a finger among the rest of the backing matrix. I've never seen a piece from Buckingham before, and it's certainly an attractive overall specimen. Incidentally, this species is the same material in the center of a pencil, and it was actually named Graphite in 1789 by Abraham Gottlieb Werner from the Greek "graphein" meaning "to write". Ex Wouter Van Tichelen and A. M. Hageman collections.