Azurite

Unknown Owner

Despite Cornwall having supplied much of the world's copper during the 18th century and having yielded countless new and exotic copper species, good Azurite specimens remain uncommon in Cornwall. South Caradon mine did produce some good specimens, as evidenced by a stunning large crystallized mass in the Natural History Museum's collection in London, but good examples are few and far between. This thumbnail specimen from Malcolm Southwood's collection is a small, roughly half-sphere, aggregate of small bladed crystals of a rich blue colour. Small it might be but it really stands out as different. It was formerly owned by Peter Golley (no. 1551) and was in the 'Cowen' collection.