welcome to the virtual museum of the tricottet collection
A Natural History Collection (Minerals, Fossils and Meteorites)
Established since 2006
Last update: August 5, 2010
The purpose of the Tricottet Collection is threefold:
• Conservation and cataloguing of minerals, fossils and meteorites, with a focus on historic, aesthetic and rare specimens.
• Research in the field of Mineralogy, Paleontology, Meteoritics, History of Natural Sciences and other related fields.
• Education, by the intermediary of this virtual museum, and of future exhibits and publications.
The virtual museum is divided in three main sections: Minerals, Fossils, and Meteorites. At present, only the Hall of Meteorites is accessible, the two other virtual halls being still under construction.
halls
This section is under construction. Only the Exhibit Area and Mineral Market subsections are available at the present time.
Available subsections
• Exhibit Area
• Mineral Market
This section is under construction. Only the Exhibit Area subsection is available at the present time.
Available subsections
• Exhibit Area
Meteorites are some of the rarest objects on Earth. Some meteorites are viewed as cosmic objets d'art, naturally sculpted in the most exquisite forms. Some others made history. Others, rare by their composition, are scientific treasures.
Hall of Meteorites »
The Tricottet Collection of Natural History Specimens has been established in 2006 by Dr Arnaud Mignan in honor of his grand father, Guy Tricottet (1926-1993).
My grand father, naturalist by passion, made me discover the wonders of nature during our weekly wanderings in the surroundings of our small village, located in the North of France. Any graving on a wall, any plant or animal in the village's woods, any strange rock in the fields of Picardie, everything was a new discovery. Guy Tricottet had the gift for telling the story of Earth and thanks to him, I became the man of science I am today.
Dr Arnaud Mignan
Read more »
Guy Tricottet (1926-1993)
A NOTE ON ZOOLOGY & BOTANY
Natural history is the systematic study of any category of natural objects or organisms. While the Tricottet Collection focuses at the present time on geological specimens only, biological specimen should also be considered.
Below is the first zoological specimen part of the Tricottet Collection:
Natica melanostoma
from the Émile Eudel (1831-1892) Collection
Émile Eudel was a French collector from the XIXth century. Initially 'Capitaine au long cours' (i.e. Master Mariner), he then worked for the French government, at the Colonial Administration and spent the last part of his life in Cambodia. During his many trips in the Indian Ocean, Eudel built a significant collection of mollusc shells [Crosse, 1893].
The upper figure shows four Natica melanostoma specimens from the Eudel Collection, no. 2685, found in 1860 in the Réunion Island. Eudel sent many molluscs from that locality to French scientists such as L. Maillard [Maillard, 1863]. The lower figure shows the original Eudel label (glued on a large thick label from the Barbier (TBD) Collection).
More information about Eudel can be found in the following references:
Crosse, H. (1893), Nécrologie, Journal de Conchyliologie, 41(1), pp. 82-83 [full text] [ref. wanted]
Maillard, L. (1863), Notes sur l'Ile de la Réunion (Bourbon), La Revue des Deux Mondes [full text] [ref. wanted]
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