Upcoming Auctions

Collecting Natural History: Time travel in your hands

June 08, 2012 | view archive

 We are presenting to very important auctions on Saturday, June 23.  Both auctions consist of objects that help tell the history of time and place on many levels.

 Specimens that tell the story of the earth, its formations and life forms and their own art embody a history that can’t be touched or paralleled in any other collecting genre.  As Dr. Carl Sagan said, “You have to understand the past to understand the present.”

A collector of natural history may gather a variety of materials that represent the world, past and present, around them.  Fossils, rocks and minerals give testament to the earth as it was long before there was recorded history.  Anthropologists learn about the people who inhabited the earth by studying artifacts that tell the story of their everyday life and the tools and objects that they crafted and used to survive.  Natural life, like plants, insects and animal specimens have assisted biologists, naturalists and scientists learn about living things.

Collectively, all of these things tell us the story of our planet. 

 Artifacts, fossils, rocks, minerals and mounted animal specimens can speak of far away places, or tell a story of home.  They paint a colorful picture of the distant past.  Touching these objects connects us to the earth, whether that part of the earth is close to home, or in a far-away place.

 The two auctions we have scheduled for June 23 give collectors the opportunity to touch the earth and feel a connection to the history of our world, and the people and other living things who have called it home.

Collectors who gather these types of objects are part of a passion and tradition that reaches back centuries.

On of our nation’s most famed naturalists and preservationists, Theodore Roosevelt said, "There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.”  We have to agree with Teddy’s statement.    The thrill of being outdoors and making the experience personal is the very essence of colleting.

Thus, the hunt for and acquisition of an object or specimen becomes part of its history. 

When it comes to artifacts, the best attraction for many is that they don’t have to travel far to find the greatest treasures.  Earl Townsend started collecting artifacts as a boy, on his family’s Indiana farm.  He sought prehistoric North American artifacts found in his boyhood stomping grounds:  Michigan, The Ohio River Valley, and the North Eastern United States. 

Artifacts can be found in fields, along river beds, creeks and streams: any place that was once inhabited by humans. It is in places like these that the passion begins for many collectors.

The very best pieces from Townsend’s collection have detailed provenance, tracing the history of the objects back to the time and place they were found.    The Smithsonian Bird, for example, was discovered prior to 1882, in Vernon County Wisconsin.  It is considered the finest porphyry granite birdstone discovered to date.

 The June 8, 2012 issue of the New York Times shines the national spotlight on The Townsend Collection Part II and Townsend’s particular passion for birdstones.  Read the article here.

 Artifacts provide us with a connection and insight into the lives of people who occupied our world long before history was recorded. The materials used to create an object tell the story of where it came from, and how the people who created it lived.  Birdstones, bannerstones and flints were carved from regional materials. Likewise, Eskimo people crafted beautifully carved animal effigies, tools and whimsies, like those found in our June 23 Natural History Auction, out of the one of only materials available to them—including walrus tusks and drift wood. 

  Collecting fossils, rocks and minerals isn’t that different from collecting artifacts.  For many, the passion for rock and mineral collecting starts with childhood collections, rock tumblers and vacation finds.  For those who graduate to the world of grown up collecting, the thrill of the hunt often leads them to go directly to the source, which in this case frequently means traveling to the far corners of the world, visiting the mines where the rarest specimens are found.

The June 23 Natural History Auction includes a dazzling collection of rare and wonderful minerals.  Admired for their natural beauty, many refer to minerals as “Mother Nature’s art.” 

Like snowflakes, no two examples are exactly alike.  Considering that there are approximately 4,000 different mineral species—and that number continues to grow—stepping into this world of collecting opens the door to limitless possibilities.  Of the 4,000+ known species of minerals, there are about 500 that collectors seek out for their aesthetic beauty and color. 

The artifacts, fossils, minerals and taxidermy offered in The Townsend Collection Part II and the Dan Ripley Select Natural History Auction on Saturday June 23 provide you with a rare opportunity to touch history and connect with the earth that reaches far beyond the boundaries of traditional collecting.