The Booming Fossil Market
An Expanding Market
There is a growing appetite and expanding market for long-extinct creatures of natural history. They are no longer collecting dust in museums, but are beginning to grace art fairs, auction houses and the homes of prestigious collectors across the globe.
These collectors are no longer just sticking to one specific genre. They are building museums to house these rare collectibles from contemporary art and sculpture to dinosaurs and minerals. These unique fossils are regarded as design pieces to be admired and enjoyed at home.
Readily Available Masterpieces
Like the art market with its star attractions, the dinosaur market also has its favourites. And at the top of chain is the mighty T.Rex and ‘King of Dinosaurs’, which is a true collector’s item and the most desirable of all species. Stan, a complete T-Rex skeleton broke records last year when he realised $31.8 million at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale in New York - smashing his estimate of $8 million.
“I think a lot of people are surprised to learn that there are still true masterpieces of natural history readily available,” James Hyslop, head of the department of scientific instruments, globes, and natural history at Christie’s say. “Some quarries are still being actively excavated, so there is, in a sense, a primary market for these objects, as well as a secondary market.”
Measuring some 40 ft (12 m) long and 13 ft (4 m) tall, and comprising 188 bones, Stan is one of the most complete T-rex skeletons ever found.
Fossil Trends
It seems this growing trend has not only caught the attention of collectors of the extraordinary, but some familiar faces. Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio, who is also an avid fossil collector, once got into a bidding war with Nicholas Cage over a $276,000 dinosaur skull. Holywood has also been a huge influence. “[Jurassic Park] reignited the public’s fascination with dinosaurs,” Hyslop says. And for the market, it was a decisive event. “There was then a moment where people realized, ‘Hey, you can actually buy these things for less than a Picasso.'”
The Mosasaur Skull from Russell Crow’s “Art of Divorce” sale. Courtesy of Sotheby’s Australia.
Art Fairs and The Fossil Future
Prestigious Art fairs such as Miami Art Basel are slowly beginning to add these relics of natural history to their art collections. And though most fossils are less expensive than the priciest unique works of contemporary art, there are only a finite number of them in existence making this fascinating sculptures extremely rare. At a certain point, supply will not be able to satisfy demand and prices will explode.
Dinosaur fossils on display in the Moore Building in the Miami Design District for Design Miami 2020.
To view the Extraordinary Objects collection of fossils, gems and minerals, click here.
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