sculptural, fine Fibrous Malachite

Item Description

This silky, lustrous, metallic quality of malachite only came out of a few pockets in Congo mines, over decades - quite unlike all other styles. This looks like material the Gobins had in the early 2000s, and it is quite likely something Kurt bought from them or others at a Munich show one year. If you've ever seen some of the great nature photos of sandstone channels intricately carved by water and wind, take that image and simply turn it into Malachite. Complex, curvaceous, and platy, this Malachite curves every which way within your field of vision. The convex side displays the needle-like, acicular growth of the Malachite crystals, with their electric, evergreen-green color and bright, almost chatoyant luster. The reverse side, the concave side, has velvety, deep-green Malachite, and the contrast between the two makes for a stunning, 360 degree cabinet-sized specimen. Soooo much better in person, the aesthetics are terrific from so many different angles. From the collection of Kurt Hefendehl, a well-known German collector all over Europe with worldwide contacts to dealers and collectors. He started collecting seriously at the age of 14 and his great and varied worldwide collection reached over 6000 pieces. Highly unusual for the area in both style and quality, this gorgeous Malachite brings to the table so much of what good Malachites are known for, and then some! Such specimens sold for a premium at the time, and still do. We are not sure the video can convey how good this is. Such specimens are not common. They are not merely fibrous and silky, they are metallic and bright - a combination of qualities the human eye responds to viscerally, but hard to convey on camera. Valued $4000-5000.