Quartz (Kidwell Coll.)

Item Description

Dramatically sculptural and pristine 360-degree matrix quartz from this extinct sandstone quarry near Little Rock, Arkansas. The very artistic column is composed of large parallel-growth quartz crystals fantastically overgrown with a jackstraw myriad of smaller quartz points. All of prisms are supremely glassy, lustrous and limpid. Sandstone matrix is noted on the base. The bit of light brown mineral is Rectorite, a rare complex clay. See the 1978 Mineralogical Record article in Vol. 9, No. 2. 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. Al acquired the piece in 1980. This stunning, highly desirable piece displays beautifully without aid.