Malachite (polished)

Item Description

This is a representative specimen of polished malachite that would be beautiful as a lapidary object, or desk paperweight, no matter where it is from. Richard and Helen Rice donated this to the museum at its founding (#1891) and it is an older specimen, reportedly from China according to their label. They would have bought it prior to the mid-1990s, therefore. At that time, not a lot was known about China minerals and although the label attributes this to Hunan Province, it is almost certainly from the large malachite deposit in Tonglushan, in neighboring Hubei. However, please do not buy this as a locality piece with a premium for value, as the outer skin is somewhat unusual for Tonglushan material as we know it from experience and there is a chance it also could be simply a mislabelled Congo piece from Africa...it looks suspiciously like African material, despite the label. We are offering this essentially as a beautiful paperweight or desk object, to benefit the museum, and cannot confirm the location attributed. At 400 grams, it is hefty and beautiful, and carries a Rice Museum exhibition label.