Calcite

Unknown Owner

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Gem, elongated calcite crystals from England's Cumbrian heartland have been holy grails of mineral collections for literally 200-plus years; and were unsurpassed all that time until several finds in China in the late 1990s and early 2000s redefined what most collectors could own, in the way of a gem, killer quality calcite of this style. This is from a find in the early 2000s, from one of the older mines in the Leiping area (probably the 884 mine but there is still some doubt on that). This is a ridiculously fine example in the size in several regards. Most were singles, but this is a matrix cluster - and without repair, I should point out. It is a remarkable survivor from the early days of Chinese mineral extraction. Also, it has superb aesthetics, complete all around with no damage. This was flown out of China by the previous owner, a well known Italian mineral collector, L. Pellegrini, who was an commercial airline pilot. He had the lucky ability to simply carry minerals out in the cockpit, when he flew from China to Italy - and built a sizable and important collection while doing so. Specializing in aesthetics, this is one of the more important collections of Chinese minerals assembled in the 1990s, even before many American collectors took note of China. The piece stands for itself, and the video should convey it well. If it were English, I know people who would cry for this - and it would be a six figure specimen. But it is simply too good to be old English, and now the mantle for greatest calcites has passed to China (at least, for this style) .