Ulexite (unique form!)

Item Description

A gorgeous and eye-catching display specimen of Ulexite with a unique form that George describes on one of his labels as "clamshell" crystals, but you could also say that they look like flowers, fans or some kind of aquatic life like coral. Typically Ulexite is not found in well-crystallized examples, let alone such dramatic and showy pieces like this. I've only seen a handful of them over the years, but they were all single "clamshells", and this one has the distinction of featuring TWO of them on the same specimen. The largest "clamshell" measures 6.6 cm across, and they are bisected by a tabular "sheet" of additional Ulexite for a nice touch. Beautiful and fine quality, incredibly hard to find on the market, especially with TWO ''clamshells'' on the same specimen. The piece was formerly in the collection of Jim Minette who collected the piece. Jim was the premier collector of California borate minerals in the world from the 1960s to the 1990s. He worked for the U.S. Borax Mines for 44 years, starting as a mine engineer and eventually working his way up to mine manager.
Ex George Loud Collection No. 25.1.7 CA.3; 2550; George (born August 16, 1942) is a well-known mineral collector from Washington, DC and South Carolina respectively, and was a patent lawyer by trade for over 50 years. He assembled one of the great mineral collections in the U.S., comprising worldwide specimens, and in later years he sold the worldwide specimens to focus on minerals of the United States, specifically locality suites with an emphasis on amazing representation of species while still maintaining fine quality. The specimens remarkably range from micros to all the way up to large cabinets in size. We recently acquired most of his impressive 9000+ piece 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 specimens for their collections.
See: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/george-loud for more information