CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE

CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE

Iron, coarse octahedrite – IAB-MG

Gran Chaco, Argentina – (27° 28'S, 60° 35'W)

132 x 129 x 117mm (5.25 x 5 x 4.66 in.) and 8.31 kg (18.25 lbs)

Like all iron meteorites, the current offering is more than four billion years old and originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This extraterrestrial sculptural form was once part of the molten iron core of an asteroid that broke apart — a portion of which was deflected into an Earth-crossing orbit. This meteorite was found in the Campo del Cielo strewn field (the elliptical patch in which a meteorite shower is dispersed on Earth’s surface) not far from the location where lot 115 was recovered, and it is part of the same event. The organic, Henry Moore-like morphology seen here is the result of a process referred to as terrestrialization, in which its shape softened when exposed to Earth’s elements as the seasons turned over thousands of years. Its finely stippled texture is wrapped in a charcoal patina and platinum-hued accents.