Lot 4014* - A211 Out of This World - Tuesday, 03. December 2024, 05.00 PM
TIGER IRON
Pilbara, Western Australia
2.5 billion years
85 × 37 cm
2.5 billion years
85 × 37 cm
What at first glance – due to its complex iridescent colours – appears to be a modern work of art, upon closer inspection turns out to be a slab of tiger iron. This gemstone is a special combination of minerals that occurs only in western Australia. The layered, non-transparent sedimentary rock consists of red jasper, hematite and tiger-eye.
During a so-called metamorphosis, the tiger iron is formed from the above-mentioned rocks, which have a high quartz or limonite content. Due to pressure as well as movements in the earth's crust, these fold over each other and form a beautiful, visible structure. Tiger iron’s special name comes from this mixture of quartz containing tiger eye and iron-laden gemstones.
The intricate curves and waves of the layers bear witness to the immense pressures to which the rock was subjected over the millenniums. Formed in the early Proterozoic, about 2.5 billion years ago, this sedimentary rock was most likely stromatolitic in origin, i.e. a biogenic sedimentary rock, and could contain hints of the earliest forms of life on Earth – an extraordinary work of art by Mother Nature.
During a so-called metamorphosis, the tiger iron is formed from the above-mentioned rocks, which have a high quartz or limonite content. Due to pressure as well as movements in the earth's crust, these fold over each other and form a beautiful, visible structure. Tiger iron’s special name comes from this mixture of quartz containing tiger eye and iron-laden gemstones.
The intricate curves and waves of the layers bear witness to the immense pressures to which the rock was subjected over the millenniums. Formed in the early Proterozoic, about 2.5 billion years ago, this sedimentary rock was most likely stromatolitic in origin, i.e. a biogenic sedimentary rock, and could contain hints of the earliest forms of life on Earth – an extraordinary work of art by Mother Nature.
CHF 6 500 / 8 000 | (€ 6 700 / 8 250)