t08-51
Calcite
near Daye, Daye Co., Huangshi Prefecture, Hubei Province, China
Small Cabinet, 9.3 x 6.9 x 4.5 cm
$450.00
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This is a new find of lustrous, translucent to transparent calcite crystals: some with overgrowths, others with phantom zoning. These tabular, colorless, calcite crystals to 8 cm across, on a brecciated limestone matrix, are starkly dramatic! It is the short prismatic faces on the edges that are glassy and gemmy so that you can look down through them to the base of the crystal's attachment points, while a slightly frosted or whiter layer of calcite presents on the hexagonal faces. Some minor edge wear to the large crystal is evident, but this specimen and the others in this update are unlike any calcites yet discovered in China and this is of size sufficient for me to not care too much about the slight wear in context, since it has little visual impact. However, I did reduce the valuation accordingly by about 1/3 for it.