PALLASITE – PMGMAGADAN DISTRICT, RUSSIA (62°54’ N, 152°26’ E)

Price Realised GBP 13,750

Estimate

GBP 10,000 - GBP 15,000

Closed: 26 Oct 2021

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A TRANSITIONAL SLICE OF SEYMCHAN METEORITE

PALLASITE – PMGMAGADAN DISTRICT, RUSSIA (62°54’ N, 152°26’ E)

Price Realised GBP 13,750

Closed: 26 Oct 2021

Price Realised GBP 13,750

Closed: 26 Oct 2021

Details Lot Essay More from

An aesthetic Seymchan slice, boasting metal-rich areas displaying prominent Widmanstätten pattern to both sides. The olivine-rich aggregates were derived from a fragmented olivine layer at the bottom of the mantle that was invaded by a metallic liquid during mixing at the core-mantle boundary. Modern cutting.
18¹⁄₂ x 11¹⁄₂in. (47 x 30 x 0.3cm.)
21in. (50cm.) high on stand

1691g.

Specified lots are being stored at Crozier Park Royal (details below) or will be removed from Christie’s, 8 King Street, London, SW1Y 6QT by 5.00pm on the day of the sale. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. If the lot has been transferred to Crozier Park Royal, it will be available for collection from 12.00pm on the second business day following the sale. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Crozier Park Royal. All collections from Crozier 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, 8 King Street, it will be available for collection on any working day (not weekends) from 9.00am to 5.00pm
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.

Conditions of Sale
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This lot is offered by Christie Manson & Woods Ltd

Brought to you by

James HyslopHead of Department, Science & Natural History

A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.

jhyslop@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7752 3205

Lot Essay

Pallasites are not only rare, representing less than 0.2% of all known meteorites, they are also widely considered the most beautiful alien substance known. Like all pallasitic meteorites, Seymchan originated at the mantle/core boundary of an asteroid that blasted apart following a cataclysmic collision with another asteroid. The crystals seen here are the result of small chunks of the stony mantle becoming suspended in the molten metal of the core. Cut and polished, the lustrous metallic matrix features crystals of gleaming olivine ranging in hues from emerald to amber. The prominent latticework referred to as a Widmanstätten pattern is indicative of a slow cooling rate that provided sufficient time — millions of years — for the two primary alloys to form the present crystalline structure. This pattern is diagnostic in the identification of an iron meteorite and different iron meteorites have different patterns.

It was in the 1960s that the first masses of Seymchan were found in a streambed in a part of Siberia made infamous as the remote location of Stalin’s gulags. Identified as meteorites, they were named Seymchan for a nearby town. Unlike most pallasites, the dispersion of olivine crystals in Seymchan is extremely heterogeneous. Some specimens are olivine rich and some are olivine poor; some specimens have no olivine whatsoever. The example now offered exhibits discreet clusters of olivine and its gem-quality counterpart, peridot, in select areas of the specimen. It is referred to as being “transitional”, and it could be suggested that this specimen provides the most beguiling attributes of both iron and stony-iron meteorites.

The present example displays an attractive grouping of olivine and its gem-quality counterpart, peridot. It was cut to be conceived as triptych with lots 26 & 27.