Occasionally the desired object can be turned from a single piece of malachite; but pieces of sufficient size for this purpose are rare. Bauer describes one piece found in the Gumeschewsk mines which was 17-1/2 feet long, 8 feet broad, and 3-1/2 feet high, and compact throughout. This is probably the largest single mass known.
Russia furnishes most of the malachite suitable for work of this kind, and the art of cutting and fitting the stone is possessed almost exclusively in that country. Most of the Russian malachite has been obtained from the mines of Nizhni-Tagilsk and Bogoslowsk, in the northern Urals, or Gumeschewsk, in the southern. The supply has gradually decreased till now only the Nizhni-Tagilsk mines are productive. The malachite occurs there in veins in limestone.
Besides the Urals, fine malachite, suitable for cutting, comes from Australia. Burra Burra, in New South Wales, and Peak Downs, in Queensland, are localities whence good Australian malachite is obtained.
Malachite, as a mineral, is common in copper mines in the United States; but it is only in Arizona that it is found of a quality suitable for cutting. A variety from Morenci, Arizona, consists of malachite and azurite, and gives a combination of green and blue that is unique and pleasing. Less use has been made of such material for ornamental purposes than might have been, for most of it has unfortunately been smelted as a copper ore.
Malachite is rarely used for rings, or small jewels, being cut most extensively into earrings, bracelets, inkstands, and similar objects. Art objects of malachite seem to have been in much favor with Russian emperors as gifts to contemporaneous sovereigns, and so bestowed are to be seen in numerous palaces in Europe. Perhaps the most famous of these gifts is the set of center-tables, mantelpieces, ewers, basins, and vases presented by the Emperor Alexander to Napoleon, and still to be seen in an apartment of the Grand Trianon at Versailles.
Malachite was well known to the ancients, and like other precious stones was worn as an amulet. It was called pseudo - emerald by Theophrastus. Its name is from the Greek malake, the word for mallows, and was given doubtless on account of its green color.
It was regarded in the sixteenth century as a powerful anaesthetic, being used internally or, applied to the injured parts. It was also used as a purgative and to increase the strength and growth of children. The Chinese still ascribe magical properties to vases made from it.
Azurite, the blue mineral which often accompanies malachite, is likewise a hydrous carbonate of copper, and occasionally occurs so that it can be used with malachite for ornamental purposes.
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