![]() Sixty of them had been collected by 1844 when the aquatic, flightless bird – whose appearance fell between a puffin and a penguin – became extinct. In Victorian times every surviving egg was listed and its whereabouts was recorded. Great Auk egg, of which only four remain in private collections.Įggs from the Great Auk are considered to be among the most sought-after of all natural history objects as they are exceptionally rare. The top lot is Lady Cust’s Great Auk egg, from the extinct Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) from Iceland, 1844. Recent research has found that these animals were actually deer – albeit the largest species to exist – and are closely related to the small fallow deer that reside at the Phoenix Park in Dublin today. Though neither Irish nor an elk, Megaloceros giganteus is today known throughout the world as the Irish elk, simply because of the numbers found preserved in Irish bogs – most notably Ballybetagh bog, south of Dublin. One of the top lots is a prehistoric pair of fossilised Irish elk antlers. Heavily influenced by nature, her collection amassed over 30 years has quite a number of extinct species, which, she says “very much notates the fragility in this world”. This led her to a world “where you buy such beautiful things, meet such wonderful people and travel the world – and you can make a living from that”. The daughter of a botanical artist and antique dealer, she had begun collecting at the age of 12 with her first purchase of a Polynesian paddle. ![]() The online sale of 150 lots opens this Monday and ends January 19th.ĭescribing herself as a “collector of curiosities, oddities, art and an interest in the natural world”, Hawkins opened an antique shop in London’s Notting Hill at the age of 21. ![]() From carved tusks and Irish elk antlers to mystic witches’ balls and glass eyes, the forthcoming sale of the collection of dealer and collector Emma Hawkins has some eye-opening curios and specimens. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |