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

Restrung, using recently polished oblate Mammuthus primigenius spherical bone beads. 135 grams, 58 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.

Thick slice of 'fortress' agate with grey, brown, black and orange banding, the internal cavity lined with small pale purple amethyst crystals. 575 grams, 24.6 cm



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

Polygonal matrix with a number of shrimp fossils. 283 grams, 16.2 cm



From Lebanon. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

Composed of short cylindrical beads with a teardrop-shaped pendant, restrung. 7.1 grams, 32.5 cm



Acquired in the 1990s-early 2000s. Ex London, UK, collection.

Comprising: a fossil 'sand dollar' on matrix, a rectangular section of Nemiana simplex in a box with an information card, a polished stone 'wand'. 366 grams total, 4.9-12.6 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.

Smooth razorfish Centriscus strigatus on a rectangular matrix. 266 grams, 16.5 cm



From Lebanon. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

Comprising: two quartz specimens from the famous Minas Gerais in Brazil; two pyrite specimens from Huanaco in Peru; dark purple amethyst from Antigas in Uruguay; and a crystalline malachite specimen. 658 grams total, 36-73 mm



From Brazil, Peru, Uraguay, and The Democratic Republic of Congo. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's), Harwich, UK.

The attractive internal structure filled with yellow calcite, brown aragonite, and grey limestone. 2.78 kg, 19.7 cm



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

A Knightia alta fish on a rectangular limestone matrix. 929 grams, 17.5 x 12.5 cm



From Wyoming, USA. From the private collection of a Devon, UK, lady.

In southwest Wyoming (and parts of Colorado and Utah), in the Green River Formation, are found some of the world's most outstanding specimens of fossil fish. The Green River system was composed of three lakes: Lake Uinta, Lake Gosiute and Fossil Lake. These Eocene lakes lay in a series of intermountain basins formed by geological events that uplifted the Rocky Mountains during the early Tertiary time. The climate was much different from the desert-like climate of this area today. Both the fauna (crocodiles, alligators, boa constrictors and some subtropical fish families) and the flora (such as large palm trees) indicate a climate much like that found along the Gulf Coast today. Large amounts of ash found in the sediments indicate that volcanoes were particularly active at this time.

Rectangular translucent specimen with a crane fly or similar. 0.9 grams, 21 mm



From a Norfolk, UK, collection.

Large dish carved from fossiliferous stone and set with a goniatite specimen. 813 grams, 23 cm



Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

Polished freestanding stone with attractive white formations against a dark background. 554 grams, 99 mm



From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.