Baryte

An aesthetic, delicate looking specimen of chisel-tipped Baryte occurring as creamy translucent blades with a subtle pale blue tint.  The Baryte crystals grow to 1.5 cm tall and completely cover a plate of snow-white Baryte matrix.  A most attractive Baryte from Baia de Arieş (Offenbánya) in Alba County, Romania.

Ex. the Mineral Collection of Archduke Stephan Franz Viktor of Hungary (1817 to 1867), with a historic Archduke (Erzherzog) Stephan label incorporating his coat of arms.  This label measures 9.2 x 7.1 cm and has been lightly trimmed, losing all the bottom printed ornate border and about half of the left and right side borders.  The catalogue number 95/91 appears on the label and a small label bearing this same number is glued beneath the specimen plus a Carl Rumpff label, dated 1889.  It is understood these labels were trimmed by curators at the Museum of Natural History of the Humboldt University in Berlin, to fit within their specimen boxes, after being bequeathed by Carl Rumpff’s widow in late 1889.  The specimen comes with one of the unique green card boxes which the Archduke had specifically made to house the specimens.