Tetrahedrite, etc (1835! - RARE) Neeld & Robertson Coll.

Item Description

Tetrahedrite is RARE from the famous historical mines at Neudorf, renowned for world-class galena, siderite and bournonite specimens. Textbook sharp metallic-gray tetrahedral crystals, to 4 mm, are aesthetically clustered in vugs in the sculptural sparkly quartz crystal matrix. Golden chalcopyrite and tan siderite rhombs are classic and excellent accessories to this rare combination. This exceptional old-timer has a fine provenance: The antique tetrahedrite was once in the collection of Colonel Joseph Neeld, 1789-1856 (# 1775) and was found before 1835. He was a Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom and a Colonel in the Royal Army. This collection, long forgotten and lost track of, resurfaced in England in the early 1980s and was purchased by Richard Barstow (no Neeld labels survived). It also comes with a century-old torn and faded Ward's label, indicating that the piece was probably deaccessed from the Neeld Collection at an earlier date. Ex Kay Robertson Collection # 8846 and acquired in October, 1979 from Brian Lloyd. Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record). This is a remarkable specimen for the locality, history aside, and is highly valued aside from the Neeld provenance. The Neudorf mines closed in 1903.