With a contour that evokes a tea kettle, this triangular-shaped meteorite has a “spout” at its left edge. Four large hollows accent the flat rims winding around three of the rims. The smooth, highly textured surface is wrapped in a platinum to pewter-hued patina with bright highlights. The reverse is a somewhat similar presentation.
133 x 177 x 79 mm. (5.25 x 7 x 3 in.)

4.80 kg. (10.5 lbs.)

Like most iron meteorites, this originated from the core of a shattered asteroid located between Mars and Jupiter. Campo del Cielo meteorites were first written about by Spanish explorers in 1576, nearly 4,000 years after their collision with Earth and far before their unearthly origins were understood. A Campo was the first large meteorite ever displayed at the British Museum of Natural History, and several large Campo del Cielo (“Valley of the Sky”) masses are today found in the finest museums in the world. Fortuitously, a previously unknown portion of the Campo strewn field (the area in which a meteorite shower is "strewn" across the Earth's surface) was discovered several years ago. This is an engaging tabletop meteorite.

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.