Sulfur on Aragonite

It is difficult to find sulfur specimens today with discrete crystals like this, as they are ancient things from the 1800s and early 1900s and rarely meet modern standards at their best. This style is of the same sort found and described in books from the 1800s (and before), with lemon yellow crystals remarkably preserved despite their softness. Two, well formed, similar-sized, translucent sulfur crystals are emplaced on a contrasting matrix of snow-white calcite (as labeled on Lidstrom's label, but actually is a characteristically fluorescent aragonite) matrix. The two bright lemon-yellow sulfur crystals are translucent to slightly gemmy and measure 3 and 2.6 cm in size, respectively; and have (literally!) textbook orthorhombic form as described in the old works of mineralogy first describing sulfur as a species. There is even a third, much smaller sulfur crystal popping through the matrix. This is a truly aesthetic, elegant, and rarely pristine Italian sulfur specimen with both visual and crystallographic appeal with great balance and composition. As a historic note, sulfur was also historically known as "brimstone" and this deposit produced much of the sulfur for Europe's gunpowder in the old days. Few examples of this quality can be found. Jack purchased this in the 1960s from his favorite dealer of the era, Walt Lidstrom (JH 1360 and, for what it's worth, $80 was a LOT of money for a small mineral at the time!). Featured in the book Addicted to Beauty: The Legacy of Jack Halpern (Mineralogical Record, March 2025) on page 143, fig. 144.

Unknown Owner

Product details

Species

Sulfur, Aragonite

SizeSmall Cabinet

Dimensions5.7 x 5.3 x 3.7 cm

Locality

Italy, Sicily, Gibellini Mine

Added on12/07/2024

Comments

Known provenance

2025/12