Discovered in Claiborne County, Tennessee in 1853 by a farmer who hit a large piece of iron while plowing his land. The meteorite became known as the Tazewell meteorite. It is an old meteorite which had clearly fallen centuries earlier; it had a thick layer of shale oxide on the exterior. The interior core remained perfectly preserved and exhibits an octahedrite crystal structure when etched. This specimen has a long provenance. Purchased by C.U Shepherd for his meteorite collection, the meteorite later ended up in the Amherst College collection in Massachusetts in the late 19th century upon Mr Shepherd’s death. Arizona State University acquired the entire Shepherd Collection from Amherst in 1978.

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.
195 x 70 x 5 mm
322g.

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.