Ammonium magnesium sulfate (synthetic)

Item Description

A rarely seen example of synthetic / lab-grown ammonium magnesium sulfate featuring excellent, sharp, lustrous, gemmy, well-formed crystals with smooth faces and a deep orange-red hue measuring up to 4.0 cm on matrix. The label accompanying the piece states that it was grown in Germany. Most of the crystals are in good shape, but I can see a few small dings here and there. For reference, ammonium magnesium sulfate is typically used as fertilizer, and I assume that some kind of chromophore was added to this piece to create the red color.
From the synthetic mineral suite of William ("Bill") (1927-2006) and Anne (1928-2021) Cook of Cleveland, Ohio (#7602). This husband and wife duo were actively involved in the mineral world for many decades. Bill was a PhD geologist, and Anne was a mathematician, and they both were very serious mineral collectors. Bill served for many years as adjunct curator of mineralogy at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the Micromounters' Hall of Fame on October 12, 2019. Both Bill and Anne, at various times, served as president both of the Mineralogical Society of Cleveland and of the Micromineral Society of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Anne was inducted into the mi The rare barium lithium beryllium phosphate Wilancookite was named in their honor in 2015.