A SMALL GOGOTTE OLIGOCENE (30 MILLION YEARS OLD), FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE

oriented with a tapered and curved outline with swelling layers cascading onto the the globulous lower body, stand

A French private collection.

A gogotte is a millions-of-years old naturally shaped mineral rarity consisting of tiny quartz fragments held together by calcium carbonate. As an underground water stream slowly filters through sand, these tears of stone are frozen upside down in eternal flight. The most prized examples of gogottes are found in Fontainebleau, France, the site of the Imperial Palace of Napoleon I. Louis XIV of France, known as the Sun King, commissioned similar gogottes to be excavated for his gardens. Known to have inspired artists from the Surrealist Art movement, these wonderful forms can compare to the most beautiful modern sculpture. A particularly well-preserved example of a sandstone concretion is on display at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. See also three other gogotte formations in this sale, lots 3010, 3023 and 3036.