Carpholite (rare) (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Horni Slavkov (Schlaggenwald), Karlovy Vary Region, Bohemia, Czech Republic (Type Locality)
Miniature, 4.1 x 2.8 x 2.0 cm
Start Time: 07/06/2017 6:30:00 pm (CDT)
End Time: 07/13/2017 6:45:00 pm (CDT)
Auction Closed

Item Description

A rich miniature specimen of the rare and attractive manganese aluminum hydroxy silicate and namesake for its own group, Carpholite. This species was named after the Greek words for "straw" and "stone", due to the nature of hue of the crystals. The species dates back to 1817 when it was first discovered at Horni Slavkov (Schlaggenwald) in present day Czech Republic. This particular specimen just happens to be from the type locality, which means it's celebrating its 200th birthday this year. Beautiful silky / vitreous radial groups of fine acicular crystals of golden/straw colored Carpholite sit beautifully on the underlying matrix. A great overall display specimen of this hard to find and eye-catching material from From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #704). Bedogne wrote dozens of articles and several books about the mineralogy of Italian Alpine localities such as Val Bregaglia, Val Masino, Val Codera, Val Spluga, Valtellina and the famous Val Malenco. He was also the founder of the Valtellinese Mineralogical Institute.

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