Grossular Garnet pseudomorph after Epidote (RARE pocket - 1980s) (ex Gerry Morvell Collection)

Item Description

The famous Belvidere Mountain Quarries (more commonly referred to by collectors as Eden Mills) is one of the great New England locales, producing some iconic Garnet, Epidote and Diopside specimens in its lifetime. Typically you'll see Grossular crystals on or with Epidote, but this piece is an incredibly rare and fine quality pseudomorph of Grossular AFTER Epidote. Please note that the label states this is Grossular after Diopside, but I've seen a few of these over the years, and it's actually Grossular pseudomorphing after Epidote. The piece is nearly a complete "floater", as it's nearly crystallized all the way around, and there only some small points on attachment near the base. Dozens of sharp, lustrous dodecahedral Grossular crystals of mixed golden and greenish hues can be seen all over the piece, as they have completely replaced the preexisting prismatic Epidote crystal underneath. The largest Grossular measures up to 5 mm. What's interesting is that there is a deposition of greenish-white Diopside crystals on the back, so this is actually Diopside ON Grossular after Epidote. These are RARE, from a singular pocket collected by Bob Whitmore in the 1980s. If you collect New England minerals, pseudomorphs or just unusual locality pieces, don't miss out on this one, you may not see another one like for some time. From the collection of Gerry Morvell. There is an accompanying dealer label with the piece that states this specimen is from the collection of Clement Mason, who was arguably the most celebrated collector of Eden Mills specimens in history. The back of the label states that this piece was a gift to Gerry from Maureen on January 23, 2002. Priced at $1,200 in our inventory.