Advantagous Auctions Paris at Sotheby's: An Exceptional Allosaurus - first-ever specimen to be offered at auction / October 5th
On 5 October 2010 Sotheby’s will stage their first Paris sale devoted to Natural History, comprising 86 lots selected for their quality and rarity, consigned from private collections in Europe and the United States.
Sotheby’s were one of the first firms to stage auctions in this field and, in 1997, obtained an as yet unsurpassed record price of $8.4m for Sue, a complete Tyrannosaurus Rex, 13ft tall and 42ft long, with all her teeth and vertebrae, now in The Field Museum, Chicago. These quasi-mythical creatures have fascinated mankind since the 16th century, with connoisseurs of curiosities and collectors of prehistoric bones, fossils and minerals vying to add them to their collections. They also earned a keen following among 20th century artists, who saw in them new sources of inspiration and experimentation. Over the last decade, several auctions of these vanished giants have been held in France, giving collectors the chance to make their childhood dreams come true by adding to their cabinet of curiosities, or collecting them as works of art.
In the words of Eric Mickeler, the sale’s consultant expert: ‘Whether you look at them as artistic masterpieces or wonders of Nature, dinosaur skeletons, fossils and minerals retrace the saga of evolution – especially that of mighty terrestrial and marine mammals who are now extinct (only whales remain, and they are under threat). Interest in these prehistoric remains has undergone a striking resurgence in France over the last few years, and offers a new approach to our paleontological heritage.’
The sale’s most spectacular offering is a rare, complete skeleton, 33ft long, of the carnivorous dinosaur Allosaurus, discovered in Wyoming, United States. The skeleton is 70% complete, and its dimensions suggest it was a female (estimate on request).
The Allosaurus (‘different lizard’), sometimes referred to as the ‘T-Rex of the Jurassic Period,’ belonged to the Theropod sub-species that lived 155-145 million years ago and weighed up to 3 tonnes. It was a ferocious carnivore, whose enormous articulated jaws, with their 70 curved teeth, could open extraordinarily wide to enable it to swallow large prey. Its short upper limbs ended in three deadly claws, used to immobilize its victims and tear off their flesh. Giant skeletons of carnivorous dinosaurs rarely appear on the market. This one has been scientically prepared according to UNESCO guidelines by a team of European palaeontologists.
