Goethite Pseudo. After Selenite, With Calcite - image 1

Goethite Pseudo. After Selenite, With Calcite - image 2

Goethite Pseudo. After Selenite, With Calcite

Unknown Owner

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This piece formed from goethite casting over and partially replacing selenite crystals in parallel cluster, which then dissolved (they are water soluble, after all). So, it is hollow and light in weight, though it looks massive somehow, to the eye. We have all seen a lot of this material creep to market over the years, though I suspect much of it actually was a lot older, found in the 1970s and prior. But THIS piece has always stood out to me for many reasons: its sheer sharpness, intense jet black (not gray or brownish) color saturation, wet-looking luster to the goethite, and that wonderful association with sparkling, colorless calcite atop! I obtained this in an old collection in 2003, and sold it into the Dave Stoudt Mexico collection shortly after. It remains my personal favorite amongst all such examples of this particular material I have handled. Joe Budd photos