Crystallized Copper (2021 find)

Item Description

Lovely, sculptural, two-sided, floater crystallized copper from China. The overall dramatic and aesthetic, arborescent, spinel-twinned form is composed of a myriad of sharp to rounded spinel-twinned and tetrahexahedral crystals. The bright, rich variable patina is from cleaning and the embedded bits of quartz on both sides are a fine accessory and contrast. Both sides look great on this very fine flattened piece. The specimen is from a limited 2021 find at the super-large Chinese Cu-Mo-Au deposit - the Chengmenshan Mine. Copper of this style compares favorably with classics from Michigan, Bisbee, Namibia or Kazakhstan. An excellent cabinet with dense crystallization from an unusual but important locality. This mine has been worked for hundreds of years, but we only started to see specimen preservation recently.