Olivenite

Item Description

A beautiful, sparling, classic and old-time specimen of this rare copper mineral olivenite from the famous Wheal Gorland mines of Cornwall. These were classics of the early to mid 1800s and have not been seen since. This small cabinet piece is just covered in sparkling 0.5 mm, dark forest green crystals of Olivenite. The Olivenite microcrystals blanket the rounded surfaces and the entire piece is very well composed and sits perfectly on its own for display. There are a couple of tiny areas where the matrix comes through and there is no damage or bruising to the essentially continuous surface. Primary production at Wheal Gorland was over by 1851, so that gives you an indication of the historic and venerable nature of this small cabinet piece. It's worth noting that the actual type locality for Olivenite is located nearby within the Cornwall district. Seldom are Wheal Gorland Olivenites of this richness and quality available, and then only from recycled, older collections like the Hefendehl collection, and this is a super showy small cabinet sized specimen, indeed. Valued $750-1000.