Talc ps. Quartz (circa 1800s classic!)

Item Description

One of the great German, European and world-wide puzzling pseudomorph classics - Talc pseudomorphs after sharp Quartz crystals from long extinct quarries at the Johannes Mine, Göpfersgrün. Utterly fascinating, how does the the softest mineral, Talc with a Hardness of 1, replace one of the harder ones, Quartz with a Hardness of 7 on a scale of 10?? The sculptural, blocky talc matrix hosts a striking, well-placed 8.0 cm curved vug lined with numerous, sharp, pristine, terminated pseudos with a few pseudo crystal sections. The dominating, sharp, terminated pseudomorph at one end of the vug is 1.8 cm tall. This is a superb, rich and classic example from the only locality we have seen it. They used to be called Steatite, a variety of Talc. These came out in the 1800s to early 1900s and have long been staples in fine European collections. We buy every good one we can and are among the most desirable of all pseudomorphs. Ex Ken Hollmann Collection of Vermont. If you ever see one at a show, these are usually priced by dealers specializing in old classics at $3500-5000 range for anythings decent in such quality, such as this outstanding example.