SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE - photo 1
SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE - photo 2
SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE - photo 3
SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE - photo 4
SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE - photo 5

SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE

Lot 8
26.05.2022 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 18 900
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
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ID 770449
Lot 8 | SOLIDIFIED LIGHTNING: AN EXTRAORDINARILY LARGE FULGURITE
Estimate value
£ 50 000 – 80 000
This remarkable natural sculpture was formed in one ten thousandth of a second, from the interaction of lightning with earth. Driven by electrical potential of around 1 billion volts, lightning heats the air to approximately 30,000 degrees Kelvin. If conditions are right, these strikes can melt the earth into a kind of glass called lechatelierite, more commonly known as fulgurite, from the Latin fulgur (lightning).Fulgurites contain a hollow internal glass tube, with a rough exterior which flares into spiky ridges and undulating channels. Sand grains can also be preserved, as with the present piece, and are a remnant of the instantaneous transformation of earth to glass. Owing to their rarity and the difficulty of excavation, fulgurites are usually only small, measuring just a few centimetres in length. The present example is one of the largest and most sculptural to have appeared on the market.27in. (69cm.) long
Auction house category:Fossils
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
12.05.2022 – 26.05.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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