CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE — NATURAL SCULPTURE FROM OUTER SPACE RECOVERED FROM THE “VALLEY OF THE SKY” — ABSTRACT MICHIGAN
Iron, coarse octahedrite
Gran Chaco, Argentina

This highly sculptural example that evokes a Chinese scholar’s rock or an abstract rendering of Michigan. Meteorites rarely look like this—it’s the antithesis of a typical iron meteorite (see lot 4) and is member of the class of the most aesthetic iron meteorites known to exist.

This meteorite’s unusual character is in part due to having landed in a recently discovered section of the Campo strewn field (an elliptical field in which meteorites fall and are “strewn” across Earth’s surface). Located at a higher elevation than the valley where the vast majority of Campos impacted Earth, the meteorites recovered from the plateau region were less susceptible to incursions of ground water and other oxidants and are, as a result, less “weathered” and more highly articulated. A few of these “New Campos” are rather extraordinary—and this is one such example. It is rare for meteorites to have naturally formed holes, and rarer still when the hole is positioned in the matrix in such a way as to yield such a singular aesthetic example.

Suggestive of shapes both natural and abstract, the barbell-shaped hole seen here both animates and provides asymmetric balance. Numerous crests, ridges and sockets further accentuate the meteorite’s surface. Endowed with a handsome patina, and compelling from any angle, in any orientation, this singular offering embodies every ideal of splendor and wonder of an unconventionally-shaped iron meteorite. Accompanied by a custom-molded base from which it can readily be removed, this natural sculpture from outer space has a Macovich Collection provenance—the finest collection of aesthetic iron meteorites in the world. 419 x 269 x 127mm (16.5 x 10.5 x 5 inches) and 33.7 kilos (74.5 pounds)

Estimate: $32,500 - 40,000