Hematite
A metallic, mirror-bright surface that turns any light in the room into a moving highlight.
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- Feeling
- Resolve
- Origin
- Cumbria, England
- Treatment
- None
Formation
How it came to be
It forms in a range of settings, from banded iron sediments to hydrothermal veins, wherever iron oxidises and concentrates over time.
Hematite is iron oxide — the principal ore of iron and, in its botryoidal kidney-ore form, one of the most striking. Its name comes from the Greek for blood, after the red streak it leaves when scratched.
The iron districts of Cumbria in northern England are historically famous for kidney-ore hematite with a smooth, reniform surface and metallic lustre.
Despite its bright metallic look, its powder is red — a quiet reminder that appearance and essence are not always the same.
The Object
We select pieces with an even, mirror-like botryoidal surface and no dulling, chosen for the way they catch and move light.
You may also notice
From the Journal