To assist with the identification of samples, meteorites are officially named by a panel of scientists after the places where they have fallen. This meteorite was named for a town that was itself named after its centerpiece — a 10th Century château that was among the first feudal castles; its remains are a local tourist attraction.

On June 12, 1841, between 1:00–2:00 PM, a fireball was widely observed traveling northeast and a strong explosion was heard in the town of Château-Renard (“Castle Fox”). Near the town of Triguères, two boys saw meteorites fall — one of which was recovered shortly thereafter. A second stone was subsequently recovered that had broken into dozens of fragments. While the total reported weight at the time was approximately 30 kilograms, only a fraction of this amount is accounted for. The charm of the name Château-Renard was not lost on the scientists who named the meteorite, not for where it was found but from where it was heard.

In 2018 a European team of scientists using modern analytical techniques discovered high-pressure minerals in a sample of Château-Renard including ringwoodite, wadsleyite, majorite-pyrope and ahrensite. This would indicate that the parent body of Château-Renard experienced a massive shock event as evidenced by the fine webbing of shock veins traversing the cut of this engaging specimen. Metallic flakes are seen suspended throughout. The other surfaces of this fragment are unprepared; on one such surface a vein of impact melt is seen going through a 7-mm inclusion.

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.


23 x 35 x 19mm (1 x 1.33 x 0.75 in.) and 17.00g