Pyrophyllite (rare locality)

Item Description

A hard to find specimen of Pyrophyllite from the Three Buttes (Tres Cerritos) locality in Mariposa County, California. I can't remember having one of these to offer in the auctions prior to this piece, and I can only remember seeing a select few over the years. This specimen is a full sized cabinet featuring what I would call slightly pearly radial groups of Pyrophyllite with individual bladed crystals measuring up to 1.5 cm, that vary in color from warm caramel and golden hues to red / reddish-brown and even slightly mauve tones. Minor matrix is present, but the piece is largely Pyrophyllite. An impressive larger example of this notably obscure material. From the worldwide mineral collection of Albert Lewis Kidwell (January 1, 1919 - August 16, 2008). Al was a well-known mineral collector and research geologist with Carter Oil Company and later Exxon Oil Company in Houston, Texas. The phosphate species Kidwellite was named in his honor in 1974 ( https://www.mindat.org/photo-326405.html ).