A T-Rex skeleton in his living room?
It is possible, provided you have a bank account as robust as the beast.
On Tuesday, a rare specimen was sold for $ 31.8 million, or just over 27 million euros including fees, at Christie's in New York, when it was estimated between $ 6 and $ 8 million.
An auction that smashes the previous record, set in 1997, already for a tyrannosaurus, bought for $ 8.4 million by a Chicago museum.
Who is the happy new daddy?
Even if his identity has not been revealed, it would be a collector who therefore offered himself Stan, the name given to this skeleton, a monster 12 meters long and 4 high, discovered in 1987 in South Dakota (United States).
Nothing suprising.
For five years, the craze for the sale of prehistoric fossils, still a niche market fifteen years ago, has continued to grow, at the same rate as the sums paid out.
To the point that museums, even supported by sponsors, are now finding it difficult to outbid ...
Soon a sale in Drouot
“There is undoubtedly a fad.
In the auction rooms, buyers are always looking for new, somewhat extraordinary things.
Some collectors feel like they've looked around a bit, including contemporary art.
There are signs that never fail.
Big houses like Christie's and Sotheby's have entered this market when they did not have much interest.
For our part, we are receiving more and more requests from buyers and sellers, ”notes auctioneer Alexandre Giquello.
He is in a good position to know: in Drouot, he has already organized two dinosaur sales and is preparing, Tuesday, October 13, to slam an allosaur skeleton, the ancestor of the T-Rex.
But market trends do not explain everything.
“In fact, there aren't really any skeleton collectors.
Buyers are very popular, says Iacopo Briano, Drouot Natural History sales expert.
There are deep explanations for this.
This type of object awakens our fantasies and our children's desires, like when you find a seashell on the beach.
"
"T-Rex in this state are very rare"
“Next, we must not forget that cabinets of curiosities, very popular until the 19th century, are part of our museum culture,” continues the Italian expert.
Finally, we should not overlook the impact of films like
Jurassic Park
, the saga launched by Steven Spielberg in the 1990s which resuscitated dinosaurs and now continues under the name
Jurassic World
.
When we sold two skeletons in 2018
(Editor's note: for 2.8 million euros)
, the buyer was in his thirties from the Philippines.
He told me that his passion came from there and that he was making a childhood dream come true… ”
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Dinosaur skeletons are snapping up at a price of gold
Finally, and this largely explains the vertiginous sum reached in New York, one element remains essential: rarity, as confirmed by Iacopo Briano.
“All the specialists were surprised to see the auctions soar to this point.
We expected 10 or 12 million maximum.
But in fact, T-Rex's, the most iconic dinosaur, are very rare in this condition.
There must be 7 or 8. There won't be more for sale like this for maybe 20 years.
It is ultimately much less common than a sculpture by Giacometti or a painting by Picasso.
And it's cheaper if you compare the prices… ”
One thing is certain: everyone expects the record to boost the dinosaur market a bit more.
“There are still few sales, but I think they are now likely to multiply, analyzes Alexandre Giquello.
This will undoubtedly attract other types of buyers, especially investors.
This price, although exceptional, will remain a benchmark.
"
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Sale of dinosaurs on October 13 at 3 p.m., in Drouot (Paris IXth) at Binoche and Giquello.
Exhibition from October 10 to 13.