Ancient Art, Antiquities, Books, Natural History & Coins

Boxed group of dark to light purple amethyst crystals on geode sections. 3.96 kg total including box, 10-74 mm



From Brazil. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

Irregular geode matrix with light purple amethyst crystals; the metal branches tipped with polished light-coloured citrine pebbles. 475 grams, 19 cm



From Brazil. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

Each showing a crystal-lined cavity and some with attractive banding, one with globular pink formations within the cavity. 1.18 kg total, 50-85 mm



From Brazil. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

A boxed group of well-formed prismatic crystals with pyramidal terminations. 2.82 kg total including box, 58-95 mm



From Brazil. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

Comprising one lettuce coral specimen and three mushroom coral specimens. 1.19 kg total, 10.4-33 cm



From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent.

Restrung, using recently polished Mammuthus primigenius spherical bone beads. 138 grams, 64 cm long



From an old Lincolnshire, UK, collection. Property of a West Northamptonshire, UK, gentleman.

The mammoth lineage branched from the Asian elephant around 6 million years ago, and later on, the Woolly Mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, evolved in eastern Siberia. Woolly mammoths, being slightly smaller than living African elephants, were foragers and ate grass, as well as small, nutritious flowering plants that flourished in the environment where they lived. They may also have used their curved tusks to dig through snow and eat plants that other foragers were unable to reach.

Restrung, using recently polished Mammuthus primigenius spherical bone beads. 163 grams total, 60 cm



London, UK, collection, 2000s.

The mammoth lineage branched from the Asian elephant around 6 million years ago, and later on, the Woolly Mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, evolved in eastern Siberia. Woolly mammoths, being slightly smaller than living African elephants, were foragers and ate grass, as well as small, nutritious flowering plants that flourished in the environment where they lived. They may also have used their curved tusks to dig through snow and eat plants that other foragers were unable to reach.

Comprising two triangular pieces, cut and polished on several sides, probably recycled material mined in ancient Roman times between the 1st and 5th centuries A.D. 195 grams total, 56-58 mm



Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

Mons Porphyrites (today Jabal Abu Dukhkhan) is the mountainous site of a group of ancient quarries in the Red Sea Hills of the inhospitable eastern desert in Egypt, a five-day trip from the Nile during Roman times. They were discovered by Caius Cominus Leugas in 18 A.D., and during the Roman Empire, the mines officially belonged to the emperor and were the only known source of the Imperial Porphyry, Mons Porphyrites. This dark purple stone was associated with royalty and used for prestigious sculpture and architecture. The location of the mines was lost sometime in the 5th century and rediscovered in the early 19th century. Excavations in the area have revealed the well-preserved quarries and the dwelling places of the quarrymen, and also thousands of ostraca have been discovered containing messages that provide details of how the quarrying took place, and of how the highly skilled quarrymen ordered their food.

Each polished and cut from a block of fossiliferous stone and set with Orthoceras sp. specimens. 3.4 kg total, 14.5 cm



From Morocco, North Africa. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

Three irregular matrices containing dawn redwood fossils, showing twig and needle leaves. 169 grams total, 56-68 mm



From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

A thick, cut and polished geode section showing attractive layering of white, grey, and brown agate; well-formed prismatic amethyst crystals above the agate layer; mounted on a custom-made display stand. 10.45 kg total, 62 cm including stand



From Artigas, Uruguay. Property of a London lady.

A roughly rectangular slab of amethyst crystals showing some chevron-like formations. 197 grams, 11.9 cm



From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.