Pyromorphite

Unknown Owner

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A vuggy quartz matrix is the host for lustrous and translucent, apple-green crystals of pyromorphite, to 5 mm. This was mined in Roughton Gill in the mid-1800s and supplied by Bryce M. Wright Sr.: the top English mineral dealer at that time. The specimen went through two German collections and an unidentified German museum, before bein grepatriated. Note that one of the old labels mentions Hausmann! Could it be from his collection? The upper label shown is the Bryce Wright label, in his characteristic script. More than history an dpedigree, though, what makes this a valuable piece is simply that it is big, richly covered, and attractive. Such pyros are few and far between, from the English Isles. This piece has a long history back to the mid 1800s, and was sold from the eminent dealer of the time, Bryce Wright Sr., to British Museum in 1860. Illustrated in "Classic Minerals of Northern England," page 47, as a full-page photo with its old labels.