Natrolite (Cilen & Lemanski Coll.)

Item Description

Sparkly spherical clusters of glassy natrolite needles attractively fill a sculptural vug in the basalt matrix. The balls reach 2.0 cm and are a pretty pastel-pink (largest) or bone-white. Horseshoe Dam, in a mountain park to the north of Phoenix, was the site of a remarkable find of Zeolite Group minerals. Natrolite is the most abundant Zeolite Group species from the locale. These are Arizona's best natrolites and came out in the 1980s. See the 1983 Mineralogical Record article in the Arizona-IV Special Issue, Vol. 14, No. 2. Formerly in the Joe Cilen Collection # 9400. Joe was a well-known New Jersey collector who accumulated an over 23,000 piece collection. He passed away in 1997. Read about Joe in the Mineralogical Record Biographical Archive at: https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/cilenjoe/. Ex Chet Lemanski Collection and acquired in 1999. The piece displays beautifully without aid. Such specimens are now very hard to find on the market and this is a very fine example.