Prehistoric is not a word we use lightly and certainly doesn’t describe anything else in our house but strangely enough dinosaur art has become our new obsession.

We’re not the only ones of course. Ron Howard, the Oscar-winning director of a string of films including A Beautiful Mind, is said to be a dinosaur collector whilst Nicholas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio are also rumoured to be other high profile admirers who tried to outbid each other last year over a fossil.

The auction house IM Chait based in Beverly Hills , and Bonhams already have dedicated natural history departments that specifically deal with the demand in fossils and naturally have a following from the world's most lavish spenders. Bonhams is holding its next natural history sale on December 7th in Los Angeles courtesy of its natural history department that claims to “the forerunner in the field internationally”. Although no listings are as yet up the site, we advise you keep a close eye on the works before a private bidder beats you to it.

Recent auction highlights from Bohnams have included the fossilized skeleton of a rare pygmy woolly mammoth from Russia, which sold for $104,750. A wide range of categories are offered, including: unmounted faceted and cabochon gemstones; cat's eye and other rare gemstones; mineral specimens; amber, pearls, seashells, meteorites, archaeological artefacts, petrified wood, ammonites, plant and animal fossils and dinosauria.

It's time to develop a ferocious art habit so that you don’t get left as a fossil in the style stakes.

Kerry Olsen

Source & Photo credit: Bonhams