A SANTA CATHARINA NODULE — AMONG THE OLDEST GUESTS ON EARTH

First found on São Francisco Island off the coast of Brazil in 1875, Santa Catharina meteorites are believed to have impacted Earth more than 1 million years ago. Many exceedingly large specimens of Santa Catharina were excavated from a restricted area on the slope of a small hill in which the specimens were concentrated. This suggests that Santa Catharina was comprised of one mass that either burst upon impact or weathered into fragments, some of which slid downhill. The area was extensively mined and thousands of kilos of material were sent to Europe to be smelted for its nickel. With a 34% nickel content, Santa Catharina is among the most nickel-rich meteorites known to exist. By the 1880s, it was believed the site was exhausted and no further material had been recovered—until more than a century later when an intrepid prospector returned to the site. While nearly all Santa Catharina meteorites are highly weathered—the result of having landed in an environment that is not hospitable to meteorites—few are as aesthetic as the current example. It is possible this is nodular as a result of a troilite (iron sulfide) inclusion having weathered out of the mass over the centuries.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue note.