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Lot Essay
A circular giltwood basin-stand now fitted with a septarian nodule top is in the Corner Room at Wilton House, Wiltshire (S. Morris, 'Echoes of Arcadia', The Antique Collector, May 1995, p. 53; Wilton House, Guide Book, 2002, p. 15). Another table with septarian nodule top was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 14 September 2000, lot 118.
Septaria are usually solid concretions of impure limestone with polygonal blocks whose cracks have been filled with calcite (two generations, brown and yellow) 10cm across. They are usually considered as being originally deposited in the Cretaceous period (50-70 million years ago) as bentonite mud which then dessicated and formed shrinkage cracks and was later filled with calcite (yellow). The other crystallised portions bordering the bentonite are aragonite (brown lines) and barite.
Septaria are usually solid concretions of impure limestone with polygonal blocks whose cracks have been filled with calcite (two generations, brown and yellow) 10cm across. They are usually considered as being originally deposited in the Cretaceous period (50-70 million years ago) as bentonite mud which then dessicated and formed shrinkage cracks and was later filled with calcite (yellow). The other crystallised portions bordering the bentonite are aragonite (brown lines) and barite.