Cut by master carver Nikolai Medvedev, who has worked in the stone carving industry for over 50 years, and has now retired except for commission work. He is considered one of the greatest living stone artisans for his work on difficult stone slices, carvings, and in particular with making art boxes by layering stones (intarsia). This polished section from a group of contiguous malachite stalactites, from material found in the 1960s, are remarkably matching and highly saturated as a pair. He found a single huge block receovered at the mines, in a stock of an old German dealer who had purchased them in the 1960s at the location. They came from a series of remarkable malachite stalactites and are not seen in anything contemporary in this level of quality, even though the area is still being mined for copperore and for decor and carving still today. Sliced with care and precision, this slice is polished carefully and precisely to a fine luster. The back is joined to a carefully carved piece of granite, to stabilize and add strength to the large slice. This is one of only five of the best major slices he recovered from the original piece of rough material. The others are now all in private collections, and this was the one he retained. From the artist's personal collection. 30.5 x 19 x 1.7 cm. (12 x 7.4 x 0.6 in.) and 2.34 kg.