A gorgeous matrix piece with a 2.5 cm tall brookite standing straight up, yet protected by the matrix! Richard Kosnar had a well known collection specializing in, among other suites, alpine cleft minerals of the Swiss/French Alps, Pakistan, and the Dodo deposit in Russia. He had a standing order in the 1980s-1990s to buy the best he could get of the Russian alpine-type material from the dealership of Van Scriver, who were bringing so much of it to market through their deep Russian contacts. This piece was recovered by a skilled Russian collector in July 1996, after going back into an old pocket where miners had previously recovered large, gemmy quartz crystals for which this locale is famous (and for which the miners sought to get their more obvious "payday"). I am told that this brookite specimen is one of only two of this aesthetics and magnitude I have seen from the locality, the other being a piece in the Ed David collection of similar magnitude but slightly lesser aesthetics (and it came from the same pocket, via the same dealers Star and Brad van Scriver). The significance of this piece, its aesthetics, its pristine condition, and the sheer beauty of the brookite itself, puts this near the top of the species list for my taste. New material from Pakistan has come to market in the early 2000's, and these perhaps are the only competition for the best of the Dodo material (though, generally, they aren't on such nice matrix nor so gemmy in this size range). Held unseen for nearly 20 years, I obtained this piece from his family after Richard Kosnar passed away. Joe Budd photos. Also pictured in the Mineralogical Record Vol. 30, No. 6 (Nov-Dec 1999) on page 433, Figure 15.