The Gilles Emringer Collection - 12 - 14th April 2013

14 April 2013

Welcome to our report on the Gilles Emringer mineral collection sale. 

A collection of some of the finest examples of French mineral specimens ever to have been offered to the mineral collecting fraternity.
Gilles has, over a number of years acquired through considerable diligence this large collection, the first part of which we were privileged to offer at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show in February of this year.
This show, no less important for being held at Gilles own home in the pretty village of Baillon on the Northern outskirts of Paris, allowed us to bring to collectors and dealers alike even more from his fine and rare mineral collection.
Specimens from classic locations like the Bournonites from Les Malines, Pyromorphites together with rare Wulfenites from Les Farges Mine and grand examples of Fluorites from such mines as Le Beix and Le Burc, and the rare earth species from Trimouns, all represented.
Also in the collection, fine Quartz crystal groups from the La Gardette Mine, as well as great examples from the Alpine regions - Axinite, Quartz, Pink Fluorites to name perhaps the most obvious.

The arrangement of the two main show rooms at Gilles' home with it's cabinets in place and ready for us to set out the minerals was a relatively straightforward process. We knew from the start that the surroundings would provide a light hearted and warm ambiance for the event and for all who attended.
Collectors and dealers mixed and discussed the intricacies of the French mineral scene in true French fashion with snacks and beverages available for most of the time. At other times you could almost hear a pin drop as collectors concentrated on the specimens in their hands or in the show cases in front of them.
We hope that some of the following images will give those of you unable to attend some idea of the enthusiasm that took place amongst those who were able to come and see us.

First a few images of the venue;

View of the Front of Gilles' home and the courtyard during the setup.

 

Gilles' main showroom lined with glass fronted wooden and metal framed cabinets
all filled with the specimens ready for the start of the show.

View from the other end of the same showroom with mineral specimens on the counter and boxes of thumbnail specimens on the rack by the door.

The larger specimens on shelves in the main showroom.

Early birds to the show, Jordi Fabre of Fabre Minerals and collector Michel Perraudin discussing some of the specimens we had put outside on the tables.

Gilles had hanging from the ceiling of one corner of the showroom this collection of old miners lamps.

More specimens in flats in one of the back rooms.
Anyone who visited was at liberty to sit and peruse the specimens in these boxes and most did so.

A pair of "Smiley-faced" Agates together with a Moroccan trilobite in Gilles' own private collection.

Also in Gilles home were these two remarkable items:

A section of a Geode lined with curiously curved, fine Chalcedony "stalactites" from Morocco.

This polished sphere of Quartz from Brazil has exceptionally thick needles  of Rutile running through it.

"Grisby" keeping a careful eye on the proceedings!

Left to right:
Ian Bruce, Jordi Fabre, Michel Perraudin and Gilles Emringer.

Keen collectors Jacques Maupas and Yusuke Uchida looking through some of the drawers and boxes in the other showroom with Gilles.

Most of the team together with French mineral dealer and collector Alain Martaud enjoying a hearty and well deserved meal in Gilles home at the end of a hard days work setting up.

And now to the minerals in Gilles' collection.
All of these mineral specimens are for sale and a number of them will still be available after the show.

So if any one has a particular interest in one or more specimens please do not hesitate to contact us by clicking here. We will find out if the item is still available and contact you with any further detail about the specimen you might require.

First, a small selection of minerals from the La Mure mines in Isère, France.
Gilles has some exceptional specimens from these mines - of a quality now hard to find.

A selection of fine specimens from La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France including some exquisite Siderites and particularly fine Sphalerites.

Here's a closer look at one or two of these specimens:

Well defined crystals of Sphalerite from La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Another cluster of lustrous Sphalerite crystals, this time taking on a near cylindrical form about 12 cm long.
La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Specimens of this quality are rare.
A rich association of Bournonite crystals with Tetrahedrite encrusted on slightly curved, buff coloured thin Siderite crystals.
La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

A large grayish coloured Baryte crystal with a smaller one attached
from La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

A selection of five well formed Baryte groups.
In this case each crystal has a thin opaque white rim rendering each group particularly attractive.
All from La Mure, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Pyromorphites from France have always been collectible, primarily due to the variety of colours.
Here are a few images which I think will exhibit this.

Assorted Pyromorphites from various locations in France.

.....and a few more.

Lustrous lime green Pyromorphite "barrels" scattered across matrix
from the Les Farges Mine, Ussel, Corrèze, Limousin, France.

Another Les Farges Pyromorphite, again particularly rich in colour.

A closer look at the previous specimen .
Initial, larger crystals have had a dusting of smaller highly lustrous micro-crystals making this a very pretty specimen.
Pyromorphite from the Les Farges Mine, Ussel, Corrèze, Limousin, France.

A third really attractive small cluster of Pyromorphites again
from the Les Farges Mine, Ussel, Corrèze, Limousin, France.

The Les Farges Mine is perhaps best known for it's Pyromorphites, but just occasionally tiny orange square tablets of Wulfenite have been produced in association.
Here are two examples, both are particularly good but the first is quite exceptional for this location.

Rich orange thin bevelled square plates of Wulfenite on mustard coloured needly
Pyromorphite, which is in turn coating thin white blades of Baryte
from the
Les Farges Mine, Ussel, Corrèze, Limousin, France.

Another Wulfenite from Les Farges Mine, Ussel, Corrèze, Limousin, France.

The ubiquitous mineral Quartz has to be represented in any collection of French Minerals and Gilles has a wide variety of types on offer from his collection.
The south-east of France, occupying at least in part the Western end of the Alpine Mountain belt has many rare forms of Quartz to offer the collector.  Here are some of the pieces in our French Quartz section.

A small selection of Quartz examples including two well defined pale smoky "Gwindels"

A closer look at one of these Pale Smoky Quartz ""Gwindels".
This particular specimen doesn't have quite the twist that some Gwindels have,
but it makes up for that with it's superb clarity and lustre.
From the Mont Blanc Massif, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France.

More French Quartz specimens including two classic La Gardette pieces each with a "Japan" law twin attached.

Again from the Mont Blanc Massif, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France, a matrix specimen hosting Chlorite coated prismatic Quartz crystals.
A very aesthetic item.

A large "Japan" law Quartz Twin Crystal group from the La Gardette Gold Mine, Bourg d'Oisans, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Another Quartz crystal, this time twinned on the "Dauphine" Law as indicated by the presence and position of certain additional faces at the top of the prism faces of the crystal.
This really clear crystal also comes from the
Mont Blanc Massif, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Of course Gilles collection has examples of many of the other Alpine mineral species but what catches many collectors eyes is this amazing group of Axinite Specimens:

Axinites from the Alpine regions of France.

Superb Axinite cluster on matrix from Le Rocher d'Armentier, Bourg d'Oisans, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France

Closer view of the above Axinite cluster.

A sizeable (nearly 1cm), terminated and highly lustrous Anatase crystal resting on  Quartz matrix with a little Chlorite,
from the La Lauzière massif, Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France.

No collection of French minerals would be complete without Fluorite. Some of the worlds finest examples have been mined in France. Here is a classic rose coloured Fluorite from the French Alps.

A composite octahedral rich rose pink Fluorite crystal in association with Calcite 
from Mont Blanc Massif, Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Another pink Fluorite this time from a different locality a near floater group of interlocking cube crystals
from the Fontsante Mine, Tanneron, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

Blue cubes of Fluorite from Le Beix Mine, Saint-Germain-près-Herment, Herment, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne, France.

A richly contrasting specimen of well defined translucent blue cubic Fluorite crystals with orange brown iron stained Quartz crystal points.
From Urbeis, Villé Valley, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France

A fine specimen from the Le Burc Mine , Alban - Le Fraysse area, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France - Fluorite with Quartz and Chalcopyrite.

Frosted purple octahedral Fluorite crystals on Quartz from Maine Mine, Cordesse, Lucenay-l'Evêque, Saône-et-Loire, Burgundy, France.

A closer view of the octahedral crystals in the previous image.

Again with a Quartz base, scattered water clear and colourless cubes of Fluorite
from the Le Beix Mine, Saint-Germain-près-Herment, Herment, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne, France.

A superb group of translucent blue Fluorite cubes from the
Mont-Roc Mine, Villefranche d'Albigeois, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France

A very aesthetic group of yellow Fluorite from Peyrebrune, Montredon-Labessonnié, Réalmont, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France. Note the zone of microscopic Pyrite inlusions just beneath the surface of each crystal.

The Chessy mines are well represented in the collection.
Here are a few of the top quality Azurites Gilles had to offer.

Here are one or two of the specimens in a little more detail.

Large well defined Azurite crystals from the Chessy Mines, Le Bois d'Oingt, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Another great Azurite from the Chessy Mines, Le Bois d'Oingt, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Grayish green Smithsonite from the Chessy Mines, Le Bois d'Oingt, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Outside the main show rooms in a covered area of the courtyard we were able to put out a couple of tables with flats of high quality thumbnail sized specimens.

In amongst these again were great specimens from Chessy.

Thumbnail sized Azurites etc. from the Chessy Mines, Le Bois d'Oingt, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Small loose Cuprite crystals coated with Malachite from the Chessy Mines, Le Bois d'Oingt, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Here are just a few of my favourite pieces Gilles had scattered in various cabinets:

Bournonite crystal clusters resting on a bed of thin white bladed Barytes
from Les Malines District, Saint-Laurent-le-Minier, Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, France.

Terminated crystals of Celestite lining part of a nodule from
Vaucluse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France.

"Jackstraw" like Cerussite crystals from Mayres, Thueyts, Ardèche, Rhône-Alpes, France.

A cluster of Chalcopyrite crystals
from Le Burc Mine, Alban - Le Fraysse area, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France.

Pale creamy coloured dolomite rhombs scattered in and on elongated clear quartz crystals together with a number of sparkling Pyrite crystals,
from Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage, Vizille, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

A large Galena crystal on massive Sphalerite from
Planioles, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, France.

A super specimen of Fluorite with Wulfenite and Mimetite, very rich for this location -
 Lantignié, Beaujeu, Rhône, Rhône-Alpes, France.

..... a closer look at the Lantignié specimen.

A fine group of disc shaped Siderite crystals with Quartz
from Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage, Vizille, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

Another specimen of Siderite with Quartz from Saint-Pierre-de-Mésage, Vizille, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France. This time the siderites have taken on perhaps the more recognisable Rhombic shape and the glistening Quartz crystals are more clear and slender.

Lepidocrocite on Goethite from Mont-Roc Mine, Villefranche d'Albigeois, Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées, France.

Detail of above image.

And finally another of my favourites, a real rarity.....

A double "Japan Law" twin crystal of Quartz from Vizille, Isère, Rhône-Alpes, France.

On Friday evening Gilles and his family hosted a small party for a few guests, Friends and dealer/collectors which turned out to be a whole lot of fun.........and a very late night for all of us!

Light hearted banter sets the scene for the evening.

Gilles helps out the Pianist......

........and Gael accompanies on the didgeridoo (or is it a vacuum cleaner pipe!)

Some sang along without knowing the words to the songs...

......and "Grisby" gets his moment too!

Conversation always comes back round to minerals. Gilles showing some enthusiastic guests more items from his collection.

....whilst the alcohol had freed the spirits of some of the more energetic folk amongst us.

Well that's it for this report on the collection offered at Gilles Emringer's home.
As a particular fan of French Alpine minerals you might imagine how I have enjoyed the few days we spent here.
We cannot thank Gilles and his family and colleagues enough for the hospitality they have provided us in this collaboration to help him sell some of these superb and exquisite mineral specimens which we know he has treasured over the past few years. Hopefully now they will all reside with other collectors who will treasure them as much as he has.
Thank you Gilles.

Author: Dave
Categories: Collection Acquisitions