TALAMPAYA — PARTIAL SLICE OF RARE PATAGONIAN EUCRITE - photo 1
TALAMPAYA — PARTIAL SLICE OF RARE PATAGONIAN EUCRITE - photo 2

TALAMPAYA — PARTIAL SLICE OF RARE PATAGONIAN EUCRITE

Lot 44
23.02.2022 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 1 386
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 716429
Lot 44 | TALAMPAYA — PARTIAL SLICE OF RARE PATAGONIAN EUCRITE
Estimate value
$ 1 200 – 1 800
In his 2020 film, FIREBALL, the much-hailed filmmaker Werner Herzog explores how different cultures and civilizations viewed meteorites and fireballs. Throughout time every major culture has attempted to explain the phenomena of rocks falling out of the sky — a notion only accepted in the early 19th Century. Such extraterrestrial arrivals were seen as good tidings in some parts of the world, whereas in others they were considered the worst of omens. In Japan, meteorites are venerated and many are ensconced in Buddhist shrines. And yet several centuries ago in Europe, you risked being executed for heresy if you said you saw a rock fall out of the sky. There is no doubt that a fireball and the attendant visual and sonic phenomena inspire awe. The rock climber who recovered the Talampaya meteorite in Argentina took a vow of silence for months after having seen the fireball coming towards him and being buffeted by a pressure wave prior to the too-close-for-comfort impact — but he recovered the meteorite.

On November 10, 1997, A newspaper headline declared “New York City Marathon Results in Rare Meteorite Recovery.” The American Museum of Natural History confirmed that a rock with a glossy, burnt-sugar glaze that had been conveyed to New York by an Argentine marathoner prior to competing in the New York City Marathon was a stunningly beautiful example of a rare eucritic meteorite. The marathoner, a mineral and meteorite dealer, acquired the meteorite from the mountain climber. Unlike most meteorites, eucrites have a known return address — they originate from the asteroid Vesta (a view of which can be seen in image 2, not part of the lot, image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCAL/MPS/DLR/IDA). Of the 1600 eucritic meteorites known as of January 2022, only 40 are witnessed falls and only seven of those are cumulate eucrites. The total known weight of Talampaya is only 1,400 grams and the main mass is on display at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, the result of an exchange with the Macovich Collection. With 80% fusion crust on its rimmed exterior surface, this is a rare offering of a partial slice of the fabled Talampaya 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.

51 x 45 x 2mm (2 x 1.75 x 0.1 in.) and 16.47g (82 carats)
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.02.2022 – 23.02.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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