Ancient Art, Antiquities, Books, Natural History, Stamps & Coins

A nickel-iron meteorite (IAB). 91 grams, 40 mm



From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

A crater field of roughly 26 craters was found in the vicinity of this crater, which is estimated to date to 4-5 thousand years BP. The age of the meteorite itself is thought to be c.4.5 billion years, formed as part of the development of this solar system. The largest two fragments, the 30.8-ton Gancedo and 28.8-ton El Chaco, are among the heaviest meteorite masses ever recovered on Earth. In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a large mass of iron, which it was believed the local people claimed had fallen from the sky and which they used for their weapon production. The expedition discovered a large mass of metal, which was assumed to be an iron mine, and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. Following the legends, in 1774, Don Bartolomé Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London. In 1990, it became protected by law.

Comprising twenty botryoidal malachite specimens showing 'eye' motifs. 243 grams total, 18-38 mm



From the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

Cut and polished sections, mined in Greece, cut and polished on both sides, probably recycled material mined in ancient Roman times. 225 grams total, 4.4-15.1 cm



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

Also known as Lapis Lacedaemonius and Porfido Verde Antico, a type of green porphyry quarried in Greece. Spartan basalt is a form of andesite or volcanic rock known today only from a single source in the village of Krokees on the Peloponnese in Greece. In addition, ancient sources mention a quarry of Lapis Lacedaemonius in Taygetus.

Perisphinctid indogermanus fossil ammonite showing clear ribbing on both sides. 154 grams, 87 mm



From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

Restrung, using recently polished oblate Mammuthus primigenius bone beads. 146 grams total, 57 cm



From a UK collection formed in the early 2000s. Property of an Essex, 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.

Showing fine ribbing and typical shallow whirls, an inked collector's number '293'. 316 grams, 10.7 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.

Comprising twenty round-shaped geodes. 1.84 kg total, 40-56 mm



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