Fluorite with Baryte

This large miniature of Baryte on deep purple Fluorite from Derbyshire is most probably from the Castleton area in the vicinity of the Blue John and Treak Cliff mines. Micro-crystallised cockscomb Baryte forms botryoidal mounds averaging 5 mm diameter and up to about 8 mm, over which sub-millimetre micro-crystals of Pyrite are dusted. The Baryte rests on a flat bed of quite gemmy, Royal purple Fluorite cubes of between 1 and 2 mm on edge with a bright glassy lustre. This specimen is ex. the Friedrich Hessenberg Collection (1810-1874) and ex. The University of Halle, Germany (1875). It comes with a neatly written detailed description in German (see photo) and a detailed modern collector’s label.