A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE - photo 1
A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE - photo 2
A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE - photo 3
A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE - photo 4
A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE - photo 5
A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE - photo 6

A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE

Lot 41
06.04.2022 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 30 240
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 737530
Lot 41 | A SCULPTURAL GIBEON IRON METEORITE
Estimate value
£ 30 000 – 50 000
Draped in a variegated gun metal-hued patina with ochre accents, the shape seen here is the product of a combination of variables including its composition, its shape upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the chemistry of the soil in which it landed, its orientation in the ground, the amount of groundwater to which it was exposed — and the amount of time it sat in the Kalahari Desert. Large regmaglypts and deep scoops abound on this elongated specimen.

Like most iron meteorites, Gibeon meteorites formed 4.5 billion years ago within the molten core of an asteroid whose shattered remains are part of the asteroid belt. An impact event ejected what was to become the Gibeon mass into interplanetary space. Gibeon meteorites are the bounty bestowed to Earth thousands of years ago when the wandering iron mass slammed into the atmosphere before exploding and raining down in what is now the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. In previous generations, indigenous tribesmen recovered small meteorite fragments at or near the surface and fashioned them into spear points and other tools.
Originating from the core of an asteroid and shaped by forces both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, this deceptively massive piece from interplanetary space is the quintessence of an iron meteorite.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.
400 mm x 230 mm x 160 mm (153/4 x 9 x 61/3 in.)
34.8kg.
Medium:Iron
Category:Meteorite
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
23.03.2022 – 06.04.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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