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LOT 0398
Historic Spartan Basalt Cut and Polished Dark Green Porphyry Slab
17 1/4 in. (9.82 kg total, 44 cm including stand).
Cut and polished section, mined in Greece, cut and polished on one side, probably recycled material mined in ancient Roman times; mounted on a custom-made metal display stand.
ProvenanceAcquired on the UK art market since the 1990s.
From the private collection of a Somerset gentleman.
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.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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LOT 0398
Historic Spartan Basalt Cut and Polished Dark Green Porphyry Slab
Sold for (Inc. bp): £1,170
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Mosasaur 'Marine Dinosaur' Fossil Tooth Group
Cretaceous Period, circa 145-65 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Comprising two teeth showing good brown enamel, repaired. 67.7 grams total, 45-59 mm
From Morocco, North Africa. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.
The Mosasaur is an extinct, large marine reptile dinosaur with an elongated body, long snout and paddle-like limbs. Found worldwide, they competed with other well-known sea predators of the Late Cretaceous, such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, for food, existing primarily on a diet of ammonoids, cuttlefish and fish. -
Granite Core Sample Mineral Display Specimen Group
Sold for (Inc. bp): £26
Comprising five different cylindrical core samples. 3.35 kg total. 11.5-20.5 cm
Ex property of a North West London, UK, lady. -
Large Campo del Cielo Meteorite
Fell 6000-5000 years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
A nickel-iron meteorite (IAB). 97.8 grams, 50.7 mm
From a Cambridgeshire, 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 199,0 it became protected by law.
