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LOT 0439
Natural History - Mineralogical Geometry Set
FRENCH, CIRCA 1850 A.D.
9 1/4 x 4 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (463 grams total, 23.3 x 12.3 x 6.7 cm (case)).
A rare complete set of folded-card polyhedrons, each with extensive printed notes on the surfaces, dimension and properties; to be assembled from the 120 components into two adjacent cuboids within a wooden box with hinged lid and paper insert announcing 'Géométrie Stéréométrique -ou- Décomposition du cube en polyèdres réguliers, irréguliers et corps ronds... par L. Dupin Ing.eur' (Stereometric Geometry or the disassembly of the cube into regular and irregular polyhedrons and cylinders... by L. Dupin, Inventor).
ProvenancePrivate American collection, New York, USA.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.12065-211002.
The box contains an educational set of geometric shapes comprising 120 individual three-dimensional cardboard pieces with printed names and numbers corresponding to the key, arranged in various smaller interlocking configurations.
The producer, Louis Dupin de la Guérinière, was a French civil engineer who began to produce and sell folded models to show the physical properties of polyhedrons. His models were intended not only as educational aids for students of mathematics, but also for those whose work involved perspective drawing, stone-cutting and mineralogy. The sets began production in the 1840s and were a popular study-aid.
The present example has an adhesive label in the lid naming the supplier as Crosti of Rue Ste. Catherine, Bordeaux, France.
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AUCTIONS:
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Natural History - British Fossil Collection
Carboniferous-Cretaceous Period, circa 305-113 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £52
Comprising a mixed group of eight fossils in eight card trays, different species and types including: Rugose Coral from Toddington, Derbyshire; Parinoceramus ventricosus and Aegoceras sp. ammonite from Blockley in Gloucestershire; Hysteroceras sp. ammonites from the foreshore at Folkestone, Kent; Dactylioceras commune from Staithes, Yorkshire; Hildoceras bifrons from near Eype, Dorset; and Dactylioceras sp. ammonite from Seavington St. Michael, Dorset. 1.2 kg total, 2-10.5 cm
From various sites in the UK. From a Norfolk, UK, collection. -
Natural History - Juvenile Megalodon Giant Shark Fossil Tooth Group
Pliocene Period, 5.2-2.5 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £59
Three Carcharocles megalodon teeth displaying some good polished enamel; supplied in a display frame. 41 grams total, 18-24 mm
Ex J. Shaul collection, UK.
Carcharodon megalodon is regarded as one of the largest and most powerful marine predators in vertebrate history and likely had a profound impact on structuring of the marine communities. Fossil remains indicate that this giant shark reached a length of more than 16 metres (52 ft) and also affirm that it had a cosmopolitan distribution. Scientists suggest that in life it looked like a stockier version of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias. -
Natural History - Polished Copal with Insects
Over 3 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Containing several insects and other inclusions. 29.4 grams, 11.8 cm
From Madagascar. Acquired 1950s-1960s. From an old Bristol, UK, palaeontological collection.
