KRB-29
Mimetite (Type Locality, 1821)
Johanngeorgenstadt, Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany (TL)
Miniature, 5.3 x 4.0 x 3.0 cm
Ex. Harvard Museum; Kay Robertson; Carl August Bloede
SOLD
Fine and classic Mimetite from the Type Locality in Saxony, Germany. This large miniature has two completely different presentations. One side has a cluster of short, hexagonal barrels with delicate, orange highlights, while the opposite side has a elongated field of small, sparkly Mimetites. There is one dominant outlier on this side that is 1 cm long. The luster is excellent on all the Mimetites, and they are remarkably gemmy for the location. On close inspection, you can see that a few crystals are missing, most likely from the mining process. This find dates to the early 1800s, and actually is the TYPE LOCALITY for Mimetite. Outstanding aesthetics. This is one of those old classics that you almost never see for sale. Ex. Bloede (German chemist Carl August Bloede - 1821, of Bloedite fame), and Harvard Museum. Kay purchased it from the legendary dealer, Walt Lidstrom, in 1974 at the Lincoln Nebraska show. As to the scientific naming mess, briefly these were classified as Clinomimetite, but the nomenclature was changed back to Mimetite 20 years later. MINDAT: named clinomimetite in 1991 by Yongshan Dai, John M. Hughes, and Paul Brian Moore for its monoCLINic structure and chemical identity with mimetite. Renamed by Pasero et al. (2010) as a polymorph of Mimetite referred to now as Mimetite-M. To me as a collector, that all makes little sense for the back and forth - CLINO sounded reasonable. It is nevertheless, the oldest known confirmed mimetite find! Kay purchased these together, and they shared a label in one box when I bought the collection: http://www.irocks.com/minerals/specimen/46129. This piece will therefore come with a facsimile of the original label shown with the more expensive specimen.