Ultramarine crystals on white matrix
The Lazurite crystals on marble-matrix derive from the oldest Lapis-Lazuli mine of the world, in the upper reaches of the Kokcha River in the Pandschir valley near the small village Sar-e-Sang in the northeast province Badakhshan in Afghanistan which is already mined for over 9000 years in the Hindukush. From there the fine blue precious stone already got in the antiquity to the Egyptian Pharaohs as well as to the Greeks and Romans. Traditionally the Lapis was used for jewellery and ornaments. The Lapis-Lazuli got to Europe in the middle-ages not until the 5th century A.D. and was introduced there under the name "ultramarinum". Painters used the valuable blue pigment ultramarine in form of a fine powder...