Picture Rock Rhyolite (ex Willard Wulff Collection)

Item Description

A rarely seen polished "Oval Cabochon" of Picture Rhyolite from Mexico. Rhyolite is not actually a mineral, but a rock type, though not without beauty. The wonderful banding consisting of chocolate, tan, and beige cream colored hues make for a wonderful overall gem that would look great in a pendant, or loose in a collection of opaque stones. Good quality and size. The gem comes from the collection of Willard W. Wulff Sr. (1904-1998) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a prominent figure and collector of Colorado minerals. Wulff was one of the founding members of the Colorado Springs Mineralogical Society in 1936. You can read Willard's bio on the Mineralogical Record website here ( http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1528 ). Later in Wulff's life, he took an affinity to cutting cabochons, and this particular stone was in fact cut and polished by Wulff. There is a hand-written label from Wulff attached to the back of the stone.