SM23-94
Rhodochosite with Quartz
Hedgehog Pocket, Sweet Home Mine, Alma Mining Dist., Park Co., Colorado, USA
Small Cabinet, 7.4 x 6.9 x 6.2 cm
Ex. Vasco Trancoso
SOLD

The Sweet Home Mine, in its heyday, produced so much material in the late 1990s that certain pockets were known and tracked by name; each major pocket had a different style. Those that had a more unique or recognizable style were considered to be, and still are, more collectible and valuable to most of us. The Hedgehog Pocket was one of these - known for the combination with stark porcelaneous white quartz accents among the rhodochrosite. However, most Hedgehog material was more quartz-heavy and less rhodochrosite-rich, so the value and aesthetics lay in finding the pieces with a better balance. This is one of the more heavily red examples, with rich mounded crystallization, culminating in that gorgeous, transparent crystal atop - nearly 2 cm across! Such freestanding crystals were also rare for this pocket, as most of them lay flat or jumbled. All in all, a very important example of a famous find, which is more aesthetic and red than most. We (John Veevaert and I at the time) purchased this from the miners and sold into a prominent European collection over 20 years ago when it was contemporary; it is an honor to have it back. Aside from the points above, the beauty is simply seen with its riveting strawberry color, it is perfect and complete all around.