Pargasite (rare classic locality specimen)

Item Description

A wonderful and notably hard to find specimen of the Amphibole species Pargasite from the old Ersby locality in Finland. The piece almost certainly dates back to the 1800s, and features a few sharp, well-formed, lustrous, black prismatic crystals measuring up to 1.1 cm, on Calcite matrix. The main crystal at the top of the specimen is the key focal point of the piece, and it actually sits on its own without the aid of a base or clay. It's virtually impossible to get your hands on any specimens from this locality these days, and if you're a fan of Amphibole minerals or classic European localities, don't miss out on this one.
The piece comes from Brian Lloyd of London, one of the preeminent European mineral dealers. Among other accomplishments, Brian was responsible for bringing the Sir Robert Ferguson collection to market, along with the Joseph Neeld collection (1789-1856) in 1974 and the historic gold collection of H.S. Gordon. Brian famously purchased the historic dealership formerly known as J.R. Gregory & Company - today known as Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd. The catalogue number on this specimen is 3269.