Natural History - Mastodon Bone Face Carving

Australopithecus Africanus cranium skull with hand-painted finish. 1.19 kg, 20.1 cm



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Australopithecus africanus is an extinct South African species of australopithecine which lived circa 3.3-2.1 million years ago in the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. Australopithecus, means ‘southern ape’. It is based on ‘australo’, a Latin word meaning ‘southern’ and ‘pithecus’, a Greek word meaning ‘ape’. The females grew to about 110 centimetres in height and males were slightly taller at about 135 centimetres.

Displaying excellent crystal formations, collection number 434; bought from Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd for £25.00 in the 1980s. 116 grams, 68 mm



Acquired on the UK mineral and fossil market, since 1970. From the historic mineral collection of Richard Valentine Cain, London, UK, thence by descent. Accompanied by an original historic index file card.

Comprising: pyrolusite from Cornwall, England, collection number 362; hematite on a granite base from Cumbria, England; septarian nodule fragment from Horsenden Hill, Ealing, Middlesex, England, collection number 216; granite from Sandwich Bay, Kent, England, collection number 184; pyrolusite from Solenhofen, Bavaria, collection number 256, with an old James Walker label; granite from Scotland(?), collection number 466; granite from adjacent to Ruislip Road, Greenford, Middlesex, England, collection number 454; granite from A40 construction works, Middlesex, England, collection number 507; halite from Brazil, collection number 220. 1.37 kg total, 3.8-14.6 cm



Acquired on the UK mineral and fossil market, since 1970. From the historic mineral collection of Richard Valentine Cain, London, UK, thence by descent. Six specimens accompanied by an original historic index file card.