What is it made of? Malachite is a natural copper carbonate mineral.
Where does it come from? Malachite is often found in association with other copper ores. In antiquity, malachite was mined in Macedonia (northern Greece), Cyprus, on the Sinai peninsula and in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, along the Black Sea coast, in eastern Turkey, Jordan, Armenia, and Spain.
How is it made? Like other naturally occurring pigments, malachite can be prepared by selecting certain pigmented areas from a mineral deposit, then grinding and separating the mineral into a fine, even powder.
Fun fact! Malachite was used as a cosmetic (specifically an eye paint) in Egypt from Predynastic times onward.
Green earth
Green earthGreen earth pigment
What is it made of? Green earth is a naturally occurring mixture of two closely associated minerals: glauconite and celadonite. It gets its blue-green color from the iron content of the minerals.
Where does it come from? It was mined from deposits near Verona in Italy and on the island of Cyprus.
How is it made? Green earth pigment can be obtained by selecting certain pigmented areas from a mineral deposit, then grinding and separating the mineral into a fine, even powder.
Fun fact! Green earth was used in Roman-Egyptian painting, including stelae excavated by the Kelsey Museum at Terenouthis in Egypt. We can’t be sure where it came from, but it might have been imported from one of the known sources mentioned above.
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