Crocoite (ex Wouter Van Tichelen Collection)

Item Description

A fantastic old time specimen of Crocoite from the type locality in Russia! Most people think of the Tasmanian material when it comes to Crocoite, but the species was actually reported all the way back in 1763 Lomonosov who described it as "red lead ore from Beresov". This specimen is a wonderful association piece of this material which is significant to me, as the vast majority of pieces from this locality only feature Crocoite on matrix with no associated minerals. This small cabinet specimen hosts excellent quality, sharp, lustrous, striated, prismatic crystals of rich orange-red colored Crocoite measuring up to 8 mm sitting among milky white Quartz crystals on somewhat oxidized host rock matrix. Looking closely, you can see that the vast majority of the Crocoites are in great condition showing attractive narrow terminations and an almost metallic like quality when they are reflected in the light. The Quartz association really puts it over the top for me, as I have only seen a few like this in my life. This piece comes from the collection of Wouter Van Tichelen whose label accompanies the piece along with labels from C. Sundt and Richard Barstow respectively. Very good quality and worthy pickup for anybody who collects old classics or minerals from the type locality. Priced at $1,200 in the inventory.