Object Description
A fine Early 19th collection of minerals, comprising ninety numbered specimens with hand-written paper labels, some attached with printed trade labels, inscribed ‘Sold by G. B. SOWERBY 156 Regent Street’, contained in a mahogany case, with an ivory escutcheon and three trays, each containing thirty smaller card trays. English. Circa 1820
16.8cm high, 34.5cm wide, 29.3cm deep. £2150
Footnote: George Bretting Sowerby (1788-1854) was a naturalist, illustrator and conchologist and was the second son of James Sowerby. He catalogued the Earl of Tankerville’s collection of shells and dealt in shells and natural history objects initially in King Street, Covent Garden, then moved to Regent Street and finally to Great Russell Street.