Campo Del Cielo Meteorite

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, as was lot 94) in the Campo del Cielo (“Valley of the Sky”) strewn field, (the elliptical field in which a meteorite shower is dispersed on Earth’s surface). Campo del Cielo meteorites were first written about in 1576 by Spanish conquistadors when their unearthly origin was not yet understood. The first large meteorite displayed at the British Museum of Natural History is a Campo del Cielo, and several large Campo del Cielo masses can be found today in the finest museums throughout the world. This abstract form’s softened ridges are the result of terrestrialization, the extended exposure to Earth’s elements as the seasons turned over thousands of years. Its finely stippled texture is wrapped in a charcoal patina with platinum-hued accents. Now offered is a compelling tabletop conversation piece from interplanetary space.