Iron – fine octahedrite, IVA Great Namaland, Namibia (25°30' S, 18°0' E)

With ridges and crests along its length, this animated flange is enveloped by a choice patina with cinnamon-hued accents. Accompanied by a custom armature, this engaging iron meteorite formed within the molten core of an asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. This particular asteroid was shattered following the enormously energetic collision with another asteroid. Part of the liberated, crystalline metal core was deflected into an Earth-crossing orbit whereupon it slammed into Earth’s atmosphere thousands of years ago; it rained down on what is now the Kalahari Desert in Namibia. Generations ago, indigenous tribesmen recovered small meteorites strewn across the ground and fashioned the metallic shards into spear-points and other tools. More recently, their descendants found meteorites buried underground with the aid of metal detectors — and this is one such specimen, recovered in the early 1990s.

Originating from the core of an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, and evoking an abstract ram’s horn, the twists and turns of this specimen result from the meteorite’s composition, its shape in space, its fiery plunge through the atmosphere, and its exposure to the elements on Earth—for thousands of years until it was found. Accompanied by a custom armature.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue


87 x 153 x 31mm (3.5 x 6 x 1.25 in.) and 507g (1 lb)