Eucrite, monomict breccia – HED achondrite; Ardèche, France

Small fragment acquired in an exchange by Michael Farmer with The British Museum of Natural History, London, with original label.

Fourteen years after Heinrich Olbers discovered the second-largest asteroid Vesta, a 91-kg piece of it fell to France on 15 June 1821. Although it would be a century and a half before the ultimate provenance of eucrites was formally discovered by science.

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.
16 mm x 15 mm x 6 mm (²⁄₃ x ¹⁄₂ x ¹⁄₄ in.)
1.7g.

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