Calcite

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This stunning small display specimen is a slightly unusual take on the classic crystallized Calcite for which the West Cumbrian iron mines were made famous during the 1880s and 1890s. It has the typical gemmy, colourless style, with crystals rising up as a bed from rusty iron oxide matrix, but their crystal form is complex, presenting rounded, almost dome-like terminations due to the number and complexity of their crystal faces. It really is a fascinating piece and is a pleasure to examine with its bright play of light through its crystal terminations. It is in wonderful condition considering its undoubted age - we have no specific details for its date of collection and it is recorded simply as "West Cumbrian Iron mines", but based on other specimens we see from that area, this is likely to have been collected over a century ago. Individually, the Calcite crystals reach up to 3.4 cm in length. Ex Martin Kershaw Collection, no. 302.