Prehnite

Item Description

Over the last couple decades, the Goboboseb Mountains in the Erongo Region of Namibia have gained fame for producing excellent Quartz / Amethyst / Smoky Quartz crystals, along with some gorgeous Prehnites. These Prehnites in particular are among the best examples of the species from any contemporary locale. This piece is a showy display piece featuring a predominant crystallized spherical aggregate of Prehnite measuring 3.5 at its longest dimension, aesthetically flaring off white Calcite-coated matrix. The piece has a wonderful, alluring saturated green hue with good internal translucency when backlit. I love the well-defined, tightly intergrown crystal faces that are slightly raised above the surface. You don't often see such distinctly well-crystallized Prehnites like this from any locality, and this one is certainly better than most from Brandberg.
From the collection of Albert M. “Al” Liebetrau (1938-2023) and Suzanne "Sue" Liebetrau (# Pr 1451).
Both Al and Sue were from Wisconsin originally, but lived in various places in the US and Europe, eventually ending up in Oregon. Al was a teacher (from high school to the university level) and statistician with degrees in math and statistics, and Sue taught English and worked as a technical editor for Battelle Memorial Institute. While Al has since passed away, Sue is still a very active member of the mineral collecting community. The Liebetraus were married for over 60 years (they were married in 1960) and assembled a world-class collection of fine quality crystallized display specimens, along with one of the great fluorescent mineral collections in the United States. Incidentally, Al was the former president of the Fluorescent Mineral Society, and was the main person in charge of putting together the massive number of displays at the 2021 Tucson Show (fluorescent minerals was the theme that year).
Mineral specimens from their collection have won multiple awards at various shows, including the prestigious Lidstrom Trophy for the best mineral specimen at the TGMS Show in Tucson, along with the Desautels Trophy for the best case. Additionally, the Liebetraus were awarded the Romero Award for best Mexican specimen, and the Bideaux Trophy for best Arizona specimen.
You can read more about Al and Sue and their lives at the following link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00357529.2023.2236000