HAMBURG.- On May 28, 2015, at 6 pm CET, Germany’s leading auction house Auctionata presents a very special online auction: entitled “Nature at Home – Prehistorical fossils and minerals”, 90 decorative and highquality natural artworks will be sold via livestream on www.auctionata.com. The absolute highlight of the auction is the complete skeleton of a stegosaurus, which is valued at 2,4 million Euros. Furthermore, the auction will feature unique finds from nature that blur the lines of science, art, and interior.

The auction, which will be hosted in cooperation with the REDGALLERY in Hamburg and livestreamed from the gallery space, impressively showcases how these rare objects can be brilliantly integrated into a home environment due to their natural, intrinsically beautiful aesthetics. The gallery has become the most renowned destination for enthusiasts, collectors, designers and museums. The owner and founder of the gallery, Andreas Guhr, is recognized expert in his field with 45 years of experience. “I am excited to see”, he says, “how the auction format with Auctionata’s modern technology will work out and how bidders around the world will take the opportunity to acquire objects that are many million years old.”

The breathtaking highlight of the auction is unmistakably the 7-meter-long and c. 150-million-year-old Stegosaurus skeleton from the late Jurassic era, which consists of over 90% original bone material and bears extremely high surface quality. The skeleton is the best finding of this genus to ever come to market. The species is characterized by the rows of bony plates running along its spinal cord. Scientists are disagreeing whether the plates purely served a visual function so that they could identify each other, alike to antelopes’ antlers, or whether it’s possible for the plates having a secondary thermoregulatory purpose like elephants’ ears. The end of their tails bore two sets of lethal spikes. The fossil was discovered in Wyoming (USA) in 2010 and excavated in 2011. All big plates, its tail spikes as well as vertebrae are nearly complete. Remarkably, the skeleton bears obvious fight marks. The skeleton is also of highest scientific interest: the anchor points of the plates are clearly visible, what makes this finding unique. The excavations, preservation and mounting were carried out and certified by experienced scientists. The object will start at 1.2 million Euros at auction, complete with certificates and a booklet with scientifically detailed descriptions.

Additional highlights of the auction are natural artworks such as a fish saurian from Toarcium found in South Germany (Starting price 80,000 Euros), prehistorical scallop shells in matrix from South of France (Starting price 4,500 Euros), exceptionally large pair of Amethyst geodes (Starting price 38,000 Euros) and a large diptych with prehistorical pisces on matrix (Starting price 70,000 Euros).