Baryte

Unknown Owner

Although Baryte is well-known from the famous historic mining area around Príbram in Central Bohemia, Czechia, well-crystallized specimens of note are rare indeed. Rarer still, are amber-coloured crystals. This superb smaller display specimen is reputedly very old, with four labels, two stating that the specimen is c.1860, with the older labels simply documenting its provenance as Príbram. The most recent label (from Josef Vajdak in New York) brings in the attribution of Stephan mine, aka Štěpán mine. This is a wonderful crystallized Baryte, with intergrown tabular lustrous chisel habit crystals of Baryte, measuring to 1.6 cm, intergrown over botryoidal Pyrite on a light grey-green matrix . The Baryte crystals are translucent white to a rich amber colour. Ex Professor Werner Paar Collection.