Azurite and Malachite (late 1800s)

Unknown Owner

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Small "eyeballs" or "targets" of intense blue azurite float within other colors of azurite and malachite on this rare style of old Bisbee azurite lapidary material. The piece is a polished slice of late-1800s classic azurite from the famous Bisbee Mine. Polished expertly on both sides by master lapidary Bud Standley, who specializes in working with copper minerals. A native of Arizona, lapidary artist Bud Standley grew up near the copper mines. He learned to carve gemstones in 1971, at age 19; and did all the work for the Larson family when they found the Ben Williams Bisbee collection; and also for Wayne Thompson with Morenci azurite. Ben Williams became the General Manager of the Copper Queen from 1882 to 1889 and had a stunning personal collection that was only relatively recently brought to market by the Larson's circa 2000; after staying in a family descendant's attic for nearly a century. While they sold much of the collection, this update features pieces from the Ben Williams collection, from the late 1800s, that were kept back another 2 decades in the collection of Bill Larson as a special suite. 46 grams.