Tourmaline (ex Bill and Anne Cook Collection)

Item Description

A classic example of the famous bi-colored Tourmalines from the historic Himalaya Mine. This locality has produced some of the most iconic Tourmalines from any locality in the United States. This stout miniature sized specimen is a rather lustrous and heavily striated prism with steep pyramidal faces on the termination and a light pink and green coloring. When the piece is backlit and viewed down the "c" axis, the two color blend together to create a gorgeous orange hue. The center of the crystal has a bit of an indentation where it didn't grow as quickly as the surrounding exterior edges, giving the piece depth and more of a three-dimensional quality. The piece weighs 42.1 grams. From the collection of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio. This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.