Polished green malachite on brass base
PUMI2630-3
This 29cm high malachite block comes from the copper belt in Katanga province, Congo. The intense colour, which is the result of copper oxidation, highlights the natural patterns of the stone, a hypnotic network of concentric circles and volutes that evoke a mapping of geological processes. Since antiquity, malachite has been appreciated as a pigment for its bright blue-green tones and was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in 77 AD.
