Orpiment (ex Franceso Bedogne Collection)

Item Description

A lovely small cabinet from the now-famous find of orpiment in Nevada that set a new standard of quality for the species. This specimen features sharp, lustrous, translucent to gemmy, superbly-formed orange crystals of this contemporary classic material measuring up to 1.6 cm on matrix. Interestingly a few of the crystals show a rarely seen "curved" or "bent" habit as you can see in the second photo. Good quality all around despite a minor amount of roughness. Valued at $950. From the worldwide collection of famed Italian mineral collector, field collector and author, Francesco Bedogne of Sondrio, Italy (Collection #845). 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.