This detail is from the first completed painting in the new Part ll project which shows both versions of malachite. Impasto paint was floated onto the surface of the jar in the focal areas. Across the table is a golden cloth which is used as a perfect foil for the bluish green of the jar setting it off nicely.
According to Francois Delamare and Bernard Guineau in their book, Colors, the Story of Dyes and Pigments, the Egyptians used malachite from deposits in the eastern desert and west of the Sinai. It was first crushed then ground into acacia sap or egg and used as decoration in tombs, temples, and even papyrus painting.
To the ancients it had medicinal properties and also was used in makeup which helped protect the eyes against the harsh sunlight of Egypt. Cleopatra painted her eyelids with it………….think Elizabeth Taylor with those heavily black outlined eyes with green eye shadow seducing helpless Richard Burton.