Malachite
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Malachite probably derives its name from either Greek malhe, meaning grass for its green color or Greek malakos, meaning soft because the stone lends itself well to being carved. With its concentric, eye-like rings of green that mimic the eye of a peacock feather, this stone has captured the imagination of many cultures for ages, and has been described by poets as spring grass swaying in the wind. The first culture to use malachite for adornment was ancient Egypt around 4,000 BC. The Egyptians used malachite as an ornamental stone in jewelry and art. The stone was imported from King Solomon's infamous copper mines on the Red Sea. Archeologists have found Egyptian tomb paintings using malachite gemstones that had been ground into paint that colored the walls. It was also ground into a fine dust and mixed with galena, a thick paste used to make kohl, on slate palettes to be painted onto eyelids as a cosmetic and talisman against evil. Vivid green malachite kohl is believed to be Cleopatra's favorite cosmetic, and she was buried with a large vase of it for use in her afterlife. Malachite also played an important role in European paintings during the Renaissance period of the 15th and 16th centuries as a pigment for paints and dyes. It is believed that many of the green colors found in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting were painted with malachite-based oil paints. One of the most common uses of malachite from the medieval through the Victorian times was to hang small pieces of malachite dangled from baby cribs and children's beds to help keep evil at bay, and to help children have peaceful sleep. It was the Russian Romanov dynasty, however, that really made malachite synonymous with outlandish luxury. High quality malachite, discovered in 1635 in the foothills of the Urals, had become very fashionable for jewelry by 1820 and was frequently paired with gold and diamonds. In 1835, a malachite boulder of the highest quality was discovered that would take 21 years to unearth and bring to the surface. Slabs from this 260-ton gem were used to adorn the interior of two Russian palaces; creating malachite pillars, columns and encased walls. This same boulder also supplied enough malachite to encase eight of the ten huge Corinthian columns that support a two-hundred foot tall gilded altar in St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia. |
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