CLASSIC JAPANESE STIBNITE. ...

Description

CLASSIC JAPANESE STIBNITE
Ichinokawa Mine, Ojoinmura, Nii-gori, Iyo Province, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku Island, Japan
Although a number of excellent Stibnites from various localities have found their way to market in the last few years; the supply of fine Japanese ones from Ichinokawa: the premier world locality, continue to be as scarce as ever. What little material that does appear on the market is entirely dependent on the break-up of old collections. The provenance of this classic specimen could hardly be more illustrative of that phenomenon or more impressive. It was originally acquired by Dr. Tsunashiro Wada; considered by many to be; 'the Father of Japanese Mineralogy', as well as an astute and dedicated collector with a keen eye for outstanding specimens. Dr. Wada was fortunate to be born in 1856, while mining on a serious scale was still taking place in Japan. He was the first Western trained Japanese mineralogist in the country as well as the first Japanese professor of Mineralogy at Tokyo University. He wrote what is still considered to be the standard work on the minerals of Japan, which was published in 1904 and is still in print. It is referred to simply as 'Wada': no other descriptors need be specified. As if this wasn't enough, Prof. Wada managed to find the time and energy to found the Geological Survey of Japan, of which he was the first Director. During his prolific career he assembled what is considered to be the finest collection of Japanese minerals known. Most of the collection has been incorporated into the permanent collection of the Mitsubishi Corporation located on the grounds of the historic Ikuno-Ginzan Silver Mine: a Mitsubishi property that was worked for over 1200 years. Dr. Wada's collection forms the heart of that collection. This specimen was a duplicate from his original collection, traded by Dr. Wada to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago early in the last century. The original shipping box, along with Dr. Wada's label is included. It was de-accessioned by the Field in the early 1990's passing through several dealers hands before finding a permanent home with Daniel Trinchillo Sr. a decade or so ago, where it has remained until this time. Rare indeed are the specimens with this level of historical provenance behind them. They tend to surface for only short periods before vanishing into major collections: again. Measuring an impressive 5 x 6 x 12 ½ inches high, it comes with custom labeled base. Ex Field Museum, ex Dr. Tsunashiro Wada collection and bears their respective collection numbers M8210 and 4897.

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