This is a dramatic combination piece featuring cuprites to 2 cm, enmeshed in a latticework of ivy-like copper. Some of the cuprites show a partial replacement and alteration into copper, where it looks like the copper "ivy" has invested into the cuprite crystal, like an infection. On closer look, it seems the matrix they are sitting on, of copper, is composed of a previous generation of pseudomorphs as well. This kind of alteration, caught in progress, is very neat, visually! And, it is seldom seen. The Russian examples now coming out are the finest and largest copper pseudomorphs after Cuprite, that I know of. This piece, for contrast of color and form, really shows the effect off nicely. From new finds of fall, 2011.. Joe Budd photos.