IMILAC — SELECT COMPLETE SLICE OF A PALLASITIC METEORITE - photo 1
IMILAC — SELECT COMPLETE SLICE OF A PALLASITIC METEORITE - photo 2

IMILAC — SELECT COMPLETE SLICE OF A PALLASITIC METEORITE

Lot 20
28.03.2023 11:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 16 380
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 926997
Lot 20 | IMILAC — SELECT COMPLETE SLICE OF A PALLASITIC METEORITE
Estimate value
$ 12 000 – 18 000
Pallasites are widely considered the most beautiful meteorites, and Imilac is among the most coveted. Only 0.2% of all meteorites are pallasites; they are so rare because they originated from the narrow mantle/core boundary of asteroids that later broke apart. The crystals seen here are the result of small chunks of the asteroid’s stony mantle becoming suspended in molten iron-nickel core. The cut and polished metallic matrix features crystals of gleaming olivine and peridot (gem-quality olivine) in varied hues of amber. The meteorite from which this slice was cut was found in the Atacama Desert atop the Andes, the highest desert on Earth.
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The pallasite designation for this meteorite class is in honor of the German scientist, Peter Simon Pallas, who, while travelling through Siberia, examined what was to become the first pallasitic mass in the early 1770s; it had been discovered decades earlier (in 1749) by a local blacksmith who had moved it to his workshop. This is an honor Pallas is most fortunate to have received for he fervently believed the unusual specimen he found could not possibly have come from outer space. He was mistaken, and this specimen, comprised of a spectacular mosaic of sparkling olivine and peridot in a gleaming nickel-iron matrix, is a quintessential representation.

One face of this complete slice is polished and the reverse is etched to reveal its metallic crystalline pattern; olivine and peridot are plentiful. A few of the olivine crystals are iridescent. The meteorite’s entire exterior rim is composed of a thin band of either olivine or metal that melted from the frictional heating in Earth’s atmosphere during its descent. Now offered is a superb complete slice of the most beautiful extraterrestrial substance known. Modern cutting.

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.

203 x 234 x 2mm (8 x 9.25 x 0.1 in.) and 392.8 grams (0.85 lbs)
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
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28.03.2023
27.03.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
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