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Monday 28 April 2014

Dorset Museums 10- The Philpott, Lyme Regis

Shown below is a table made in the 1830s for pioneering geologist William Buckland. The interesting part is that the ornate inlay is not all it first appears. It is made of coprolites or beetle stones so called for their beetle-shaped centres. 
Coprolites have come down to us after first partaking of rather an interesting journey... from the front end of a dinosaur and out of the back porch. No more beating about the bush - here is a tabletop made entirely from dino crap and Buckland was obsessed by it; as the table bears witness.
I leave you to muse on what may have constituted the table's legs ...


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