Unknown millennia ago - the exact date is lost to prehistory - an object weighing more than 26,000kg crashed into Earth. It originally formed 4 1/2 billion years ago from the core of a planetary-like body located between Mars and Jupiter, whose shattered remains are now part of the asteroid belt. An impact event ejected what was to become the Gibeon mass into interplanetary space before its fateful descent to Earth, exploding in the atmosphere and raining down in what is now the Kalahari Desert.

First discovered in 1836, specimens were sent to the scientist John Herschel, who confirmed their extraterrestrial origins. When cut, Gibeon meteorites reveal a diagnostic crystalline intergrowth of specimens formed by the explosion in the atmosphere and subsequent exposure to soil chemistry and ground water lead to homogenous masses. But in very rare instances those forces of terrestrialisation combine to form aesthetic shapes featuring natural holes, reminiscent of sculptures by Henry Moore, and a dynamic appearance. The meteorite presented here represents one of the best examples of the famous Gibeon and comes from one of the most important collections of aesthetic iron meteorites in private hands.