Stibnite (large crystal)

Item Description

A notably impressive and aesthetic large cabinet sized Stibnite specimen which hails from the discovery at the Wuning Mine that produced the finest and biggest crystals of the species ever seen ! This piece host a predominant, large, bright, intense metallic silver color, prismatic crystal of Stibnite, sitting atop a group of intergrown smaller Stibnites, forming a very eye-catching display piece. Minor associated Quartz can be seen on the lower portion of the piece for a nice touch. There are some areas of "chipping", so the specimens is not pristine, but you just don't see crystals of this size anymore on the market, especially on "matrix" (if you consider additional Stibnite crystals actual matrix) and Wuning is not producing them anymore. A large number of the Wuning pieces were just loose single crystals, so a three-dimensional group like this is certainly rare. The piece dates back to 2003-2004. Valued $4,500.
From the Dr. Stephen Smale Collection. Along with amassing one of the finest private mineral collections in the world, Steve is a renowned mathematician. His accomplishments include being awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 along with being the awarded the Wolf Prize in mathematics in 2007. You can read Steve's bio on the Mineralogical Record website ( https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/smalestephen/ ) or on Wikipedia.