RARE08-63
Bismuth
Ashio Mine, Tochigi Pref., Honshu, Japan
Small Cabinet, 7.2 x 4.6 x 3.3 cm
SOLD
Incredible locality piece AND a good native crystallized bismuth, BOTH...this specimen features 1 cm crystals of sharp, lustrous bismuth in ore, from a long-defunct locality. Impressive heft and size, and of visual.display-quality. This is an old specimen from the John Ydren collection by way of the Burton Jirgl Collection (noted for his Japanese suite assembled in the 1950s). If this were German, it would actually cost MORE money, I expect, given the Euro and the native love of such specimens. So I think this piece could definitely fit any aesthetic systematics collection and do so in a way that makes it quite special beyond just its species representation.