Hematite (''iron rose'')

Item Description

This is a wonderful example of a non-Alpine Hematite "iron rose". Most people are familiar with the superb classics from the Swiss Alps, but some excellent specimens have been found at Ouro Preto, Brazil over the years, which is famously the source of the beautiful orange "Imperial" Topaz crystals. The Hematite crystals on this specimen have excellent, splendent, metallic silvery-grey faces forming the classic "rose" shape that makes these specimens so desirable. This excellent, older piece is complete all-around, but with some contacted areas here and there. Few of such form come out, in good condition, and most date to the 1960s or 1970s. This is still a very good example and compares very favorably with the style of European Alpine specimens. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#11,434). This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.