15th Century and Earlier Scientific Instruments

Mortar and pestle. Bronze. 15th century. Bronze mortar and pestle with a circular base and a spouted mouth decorated with a band beneath the rim. The base, facing outward, features...

Gothic mortar. Bronze. Spanish school, 15th century. Tubular mortar with a slightly curved mouth and a sunken cylindrical base that presents a relief decoration centered on a strip ...

This remarkable piece is a polished Lapis Lazuli slab, displaying an intense, deep blue color that is both rich and captivating. Originating from the mineral-rich regions of Afghanis...

An almost perfect section of intense lapis lazuli. Most lapis sections have multiple white calcite veins within the rock, whereas the present piece is an extraordinarily pure block w...

An almost perfect section of intense lapis lazuli. Most lapis sections have multiple white calcite veins within the rock, whereas the present piece is an extraordinarily pure block...

Amazing fossile of a Odontopleurida Trilobite from the Ordovician period (Paleozoic era). Very well preserved in a stone gangue. Origin: Morocco Period: Ordovician between 485 and ...

Cylindrical mortar with a recessed strip towards the edge and at the base, decorated to the outside with smooth "ribs" with flat base and sharp tip, arranged alternating the tips, and four quadrangular exterior handles; The tubular mantel (fireplace) has a disc in its middle zone, a slightly wider base and a smooth strip finish. The "ribs" in relief on the exterior of the piece are an element of long tradition in the Spanish models: they are already in Gothic pieces, some of Mudejar surroundings, and they were maintained with the usual differences due to the change of taste during the Renaissance and the Baroque, returning with the Historicisms of the 19th century and as "homage" to medieval works. Compare the present mortar with another in the Víctor Balaguer Museum of Vilanova i la Gertrú (with alternate ribs completed with animal heads and other details), or with two Renaissance ones that are preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid, some of the Museo de la Farmacia Hispánica de Madrid the Complutense University of Madrid, etc. However, the four handles were not very common in European Gothic mortars...

Cylindrical mortar with mouth at the level of the rest of the body, decorated with two handles on the sides of quadrangular outer profile and rounded interior. The only decoration that presents is a band between the handles of ribs in the form of a peak, alternating the triangular zones with the quadrangular ones. The decoration of ribs was the most usual in the Spanish Gothic mortars...

This extraordinary Ice Age Siberian cave bear cub skeleton, believed to be from the species Ursus spelaeus, is an incredible relic of prehistoric times. This juvenile was discovered in the 1960s and is in a magnificently preserved. This species was one of the most fearsome land animals of the Pleistocene Age. The largest of all the great bears, this now-extinct species was both worshipped and hunted by prehistoric man. Cave bear skeletons...

This Ice Age cave bear skeleton, believed to be from the species Ursus spelaeus, is an incredible relic of Prehistoric times. Measuring over eight f...