Gypsum with sand inclusions (''Rabbit Ear Selenite'')

Item Description

A fantastic and dramatic large cabinet sized display specimen from Marlow, Oklahoma, which is about 150 miles south of Jet, where the more famous Gypsum specimens with sand inclusions have been found for decades. This piece is the ONLY specimen we've ever had to offer from Marlow, and it's an impressive example to say the least. It's loaded with dozens of tabular crystals of Gypsum measuring up to 3.7 cm, which have a gentle golden-brown hue due to micro sand particle inclusions. Unlike the pieces from the Great Salt Plains, the specimens from Marlow have a slightly more rounded shape on the terminations, earning them the nickname "Rabbit Ear Selenite". These are incredibly rare to find on the market, especially in such a big and eye-catching specimen. The piece was personally collected by Gary Butts in his early teen years (late 1950s), and his notes state that he collected several of them from the site with his family at the time. If you collect Gypsum specimens, Oklahoma minerals, or rare locality specimens, this is a stunning example, the likes of which you probably will not find anywhere else on the market right now.
From the collection of Gary and Terry Butts of Livermore, Colorado. This husband and wife collecting duo were childhood sweethearts, and have been together since they began dating as teenagers growing up in East Des Moines, Iowa in the 1950s. Both of them had an early interest in the hobby thanks to the fact that Terry's parents had a keen interest in lapidary, which sparked an interest in rocks for both of them. Gary and Terry were featured in an article in the Des Moines Register on Feb 4, 1962 (see photo in this listing) highlighting their interest and prowess in the hobby as youngsters. Gary traveled to various localities around the US as a teenager with his father (who worked in the tin industry), to personally collect specimens. He then attended the School of Mines in Golden, Colorado and graduated in 1967 with a degree in extractive metallurgical engineering. We went to work for Duval Corp at the Esperanza Mine south of Tucson, Arizona and then work for Cyprus Mines, Hazen Research, Pincock, Allen & Holt and the Colorado School of Mines Research Institute. His final job was in the mineral and environmental division of Intertek Testing Services of London, which owned the Canadian mineral testing company, Bonder Clegg. Gary's various jobs allowed him to travel the world and build his collection by buying a lot of specimens in person when they were coming out of the ground. Additionally, Terry's uncle was a miner in Creede, Colorado and later owned a rock shop which supplied Gary with specimens from the area. The specimens in this auction represent what Gary and Terry considered the "cream of the crop" of their collection.