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Huge Translucent Golden Yellow Desert Glass from Meteorite Impact

$33,500
£25,291.64
€29,602.09
CA$47,603.53
A$48,417.28
CHF 27,685.83
MX$585,646.81
NOK 324,385.48
SEK 324,307.57
DKK 221,292.44

About the Item

An extremely large and sculptural piece of Libyan Desert Glass, a rare type of impact glass formed when a meteorite impacted in the eastern Sahara around 29 million years ago. This catastrophic impact instantaneously melted the quartz-rich sand, ejecting it into the atmosphere before it returned to Earth, as some of the purest natural glass found on the planet. Many pieces recovered from the area today are small and lack the ethereal translucency for which they are known. However, the present example – measuring over 15 cm in height – is exceptional for its scale and strikingly sculptural form. It is further distinguished by its beautiful colour and fine translucency, while its smooth surface and undulating contours have been shaped by the action of desert winds over many millennia. Prized for its beauty since antiquity, Libyan Desert Glass found its most celebrated use in the pectoral of Tutankhamun, where it forms the central scarab, a potent symbol of protection and rebirth in the afterlife. As a rare and otherworldly natural sculpture, this example is both a tactile and aesthetic piece of natural history. Weight: 1298 g Provenance Recovered in the Libyan desert, exact coordinates unknown. Condition Intact and unrestored with bespoke wood display base. Please note that this item is a work of art and is thus exempt from US reciprocal tariffs. ArtAncient are dealers in rare wonders from the formation of the Solar System to late antiquity, discovering, studying and placing objects in extraordinary collections. Please contact us for more details on this piece.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 3.94 in (10 cm)Width: 6.19 in (15.7 cm)Depth: 3.15 in (8 cm)
  • Style:
    Space Age (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    c.29 million years before present
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 436151stDibs: LU1052249749032

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