Spain, Seville | Navalcan, 1955.

LARGE SPECIMEN OF LAPIS LAZULI

SAR-I-SANG, AFGHANISTAN

A large and impressive specimen of lapis lazuli from the historic Sar-i-Sang mines, Badakhshan, Afghanistan.

This historic source, worked for over 6,000 years, has produced some of the finest lapis lazuli known. Material from the Sar-i-Sang mines travelled along ancient trade routes to Mesopotamia and Egypt, where it was prized for its intense celestial-blue colour and symbolic association with the heavens and divinity. Used in jewellery, amulets, carvings, and later ground to create the precious pigment ultramarine, lapis lazuli has long been regarded as one of the most coveted ornamental stones of the ancient world.

Teng Hiok Chiu 周廷旭, Landscape, 1946

STROMATOLITE SPECIMEN

UPPER TACHGAGALT FORMATION, MOROCCO, PRECAMBRIAN PERIOD, 635 – 541 MILLION YEARS B.P.

This specimen stands as evidence of some of the world’s earliest life forms. Stromatolites first appeared more than 3.5 billion years ago, forming in the shallow, warm waters of the Earth’s primordial seas. There, microbial mats trapped and bound fine sediment and minerals, creating layers over vast periods of time. The banding visible here preserves that gradual process, offering a direct link to life in its earliest stages.