SPR01 Stibnite
Ichinokawa mine, Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island, Japan
14.5x 1.75x 1.0 cm
$2650
An excellent stibnite specimen that is well over 100 years old, from *the* locality for the species. This piece is in excellent condition, both given its age, and compared to others I have seen. Ichinokawa stibnites remain elusive classics, though are mentioned in practically all the texts where stibnite is discussed, and given their near mythic reputation, I would even say that a collection of worldwide minerals is not entirely complete without some representation from this mine.
Ichinokawa set the standard for the species, even against the glut of Chinese examples that have flooded the market since the 90's, nearly one hundred years after Ichinokawa was operational. I heard a story once from a museum curator, that in the area around the mine, villagers would even use massive stibnite crystals as fence posts-- I'm not sure if it's true or not, but the thought is mesmerizing.
This example has particularly good provenance as well-- Ex. Field Museum (Chicago) and previously in the Wada collection (attribution on the Field Label) considered one of the preeminent collections of Japanese minerals.
