Stilbite-Ca (bi-colored)

Item Description

This is a lovely flowing group of vitreous, cream-colored "sheaves" of Stilbite-Ca from the lesser-known Sakur Quarry in India which have contrasting dark reddish hues due to some kind of iron oxide inclusions, creating a visually striking shade that is rarely seen in any Stilbites from India or anywhere else for that matter. The largest Stilbite aggregate measures 3.3 cm long. The piece is almost a complete "floater", as it's largely crystallized on all sides, but I can see a few tiny points where it doesn't appear to be completely crystallized. It's hard to say which side or angle is the "display side" of the specimen, as you can rotate it a few different ways, and it still looks great. I know that Indian zeolite minerals are fairly common on the market, but pieces like this are still special and beautiful, and you can't deny that despite the amount of material that has been found, these Stilbites are among the greatest examples of the species that have ever been found.
From the collection of Jack Halpern No. 2840. Jack was born May 18, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, but has been a long-time resident of San Francisco. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the world encompassing over 3,200 specimens with a specific emphasis on color, quality, and style/aesthetics, which is evident in every piece. He admired specimens of all sizes from thumbnails to large cabinets and the vast majority of them rank from fine to world-class in their quality.
Above all else, Jack is considered to be the greatest gentleman in the modern era of mineral collecting. He is beloved by all those who have met him, and he truly is one of the most iconic figures in the mineral world. We recently acquired Jack's collection, and the VAST majority of these pieces will be offered here in the auctions, as we feel that everyone deserves and equal opportunity at acquiring these important, well-documented and fine quality pieces for their collections. We are honored to have the opportunity to offer Jack's treasures to everyone on a regular basis in the auctions.
We encourage you to read our blog post at https://www.irocks.com/the-jack-halpern-collection or his profile on the Mineralogical Record website https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/halpernjack/ for more information