AESTHETIC TABLETOP CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE - photo 1
AESTHETIC TABLETOP CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE - photo 2

AESTHETIC TABLETOP CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE

Lot 22
25.08.2020 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 10 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 389965
Lot 22 | AESTHETIC TABLETOP CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE
Estimate value
$ 12 000 – 18 000
Lot Description:
Surprisingly dense, this meteorite has a smooth, finely stippled texture. Accented with a charcoal-hued patina with platinum highlights, thumbprint-like sockets abound. Much of this character is the result of the meteorite experiencing frictional heating in Earth’s atmosphere. A pronounced groove runs the length of the face animating the form. This meteorite exhibits the archetypal qualities of a superior Campo del Cielo and fascinates from any angle, in any orientation. Accompanied by a custom pedestal.
230 x 215 x 165mm (9 x 8.5 x 6.5 in.)
21.18kg (46.66 lbs)

The Campo specimens were blasted off their parent asteroid following the collision with another asteroid millions of years ago. When one large Campo chunk struck Earth’s upper atmosphere 6,000 years ago, the result was explosive fragmentation into thousands of meteorites. The larger meteorites struck the ground at such high velocity that an array of at least 26 impact craters formed, the largest a football field in diameter. This meteorite was recovered at a higher elevation than in the Campo del Cielo valley where the vast majority of Campos fell. As a result, it was exposed to less ground water and other oxidants and its elaborate surface texture is better preserved than most of the Campo meteorites in the world’s great collections.

Thousands of years after colliding with Earth, Campo del Cielo (“Valley of the Sky”) meteorites were first written about in 1576 by Spanish conquistadors in Argentina, when the unearthly origin of these meteorites was still not yet understood. The first large meteorite displayed at the British Museum of Natural History was a Campo, and several large Campo del Cielo masses can be found today in the finest museums in the world.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
12.08.2020 – 25.08.2020
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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