Very large lapis lazuli sculpture in great shape with incredible color and best quality

A monumental lapis lazuli sculpture in deep ultramarine, streaked with golden pyrite inclusions and fine calcite veins. The free-form shape follows the natural bedding in the host rock, carefully excavated without subsequent surface treatment.

Lapis lazuli is not a single mineral in a mineralogical sense, but rather a rock consisting mainly of lazurite, supplemented by sodalite, hauyne, and the characteristic pyrite specks. The intense blue coloration of lazurite is one of the rare inorganic pigments from which Renaissance painters obtained their famous ultramarine.

The piece exhibits the premium quality considered to be Afghan material from the Sar-e-Sang Valley in Badakhshan: uniform depth of blueness, sparse calcite veins, finely distributed pyrite. Such material has been mined for over 6,000 years, with historical trade routes leading from there as far as Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.

Weighing 200 kg, this sculpture is among the pieces deliberately designed as a room element, no longer a display case object, but an architectural accent. It should be placed in a shock-protected location, as lapis lazuli, with a Mohs hardness of 5.5, is softer than most quartz varieties.

A collector's item with cultural-historical depth and visual presence, suitable for collections where material is used as a narrative medium.