Azurite on Malachite (natural knoll, polished on bottom) circa 1900

Item Description

This large thumbnail specimen might be the best thumbnail we have seen of this immediately recognizable classic style of azurite, from the great Copper mining district of Bisbee in the late 1890s and very early 1900s. The piece is composed of two adjoining stalactite tips made up of botryoidal Malachite. The excellent and uniform mint-green color contrasts beautifully with the rich blue of the 2 mm Azurite rosettes that populate the surface. The specimen is good as a specimen AND as a lapidary item! The cut is superbly polished, so that the classic banding of the Malachite shows nicely, and the internal Azurite really jumps against the polished green. If that wasn't enough for interest and aesthetics, the larger of the two tips is actually hollow. Previously from the world-class collection of Cal & Kerith Graeber. Recently deaccessed from the Tim Sherburn collection (he sold it to them in 1995, and later bought it back. A stunning small jewel of a historic USA classic...and should be valued highly, perhaps $1000 as a guide. can be displayed as a lapidary or a specimen!