Topaz (old locale) ex. Sir Robert Ferguson (1769-1840)

Item Description

Topaz specimens are a classic, highly desirable and rare species from the famous and ancient mines at Horni Slavkov (Schlaggenwald), on the Czech side of the famous Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge). Sharp, gemmy to translucent, colorless to green-tinted topaz crystals, to 6 mm, are richly clustered on the matrix wedge. This very fine old-timer is from the collection of Sir Robert Ferguson (1769-1840). He was a member of Parliament and the landed nobility from Fife, Scotland (he had stopped collecting by 1810 AS A RESULT OF A DIVORCE SETTLEMENT INVOLVING LORD ELGIN, OF THE MARBLES FAME!). This piece came to us in 1998 from a single large purchase of pieces recovered in the Ferguson family estate.