Quartz And Fluorapatite

A historic, published piece of huge significance from the noted collection of William S. Vaux (1811-1882) ...photographed on plate 23 in the 1944 Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Like the above specimen, a superb large plate from the classic Bolivian locality. It features a matrix covered by colorless quartz, to 3.6 cm, as the host for tabular, translucent crystals of ivory-colored fluorapatite, to 4.1 cm across. The quartz crystals are peppered with sparkling, splendent sulfide crystals, which may be sphalerite. A fascinating sidebar to this specimen, is that the quartz and fluorapatite grew on two sides of the massive quartz vein. So here we have a sentimental specimen linking the curator of the museum to the family that funded his expeditions in the museum's heyday before its decline in modern times, and the specimen in question also CAME FROM the original older museum expeditions funded by the uncle, a major supporter of the museum since its earliest days. Accompanying this specimen is an original copy in decent condition of the 1944 proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, where this specimen is photographed as plate 23. Historical, old, and important specimens are too rarely available these days, especially with such interesting documentation. More than that, this is on its own merit a cabinet specimen of good aesthetics and quality for the locality.