The vast majority of iron meteorites, including this singular example, originate from the iron cores of asteroids that existed billions of years ago between Mars and Jupiter. The Gibeon iron meteorite shower occurred thousands of years ago after an enormous iron mass from a shattered asteroid was deflected out of the asteroid belt, slamming into Earth’s atmosphere before exploding and raining down on what is now Namibia’s Kalahari Desert. Generations ago, indigenous tribesmen recovered small meteorites scattered across the landscape and fashioned the metallic shards into spear-points and other tools. More recently, their descendants found meteorites buried underground with the aid of metal detectors — and this is one such specimen.

Due to a relatively high nickel content (7.6%), Gibeon is ductile and not as prone to oxidizing as other iron meteorites. When cut and etched, Gibeon specimens exhibit an extremely alluring fine-octahedral latticework that showcases the crystalline structure of its metallic alloys, an exquisite natural design known as a Widmanstätten pattern (see lots 18, 40 and 44).

All Gibeon meteorites exhibit the same octahedral crystalline pattern. The shape of the meteorite itself is due to a host of variables which serendipitously aligned to result in the singular shape now seen. Among these factors are the meteorite’s chemical composition, the manner in which it melted as it plunged to Earth, its orientation in the ground, the soil chemistry where it landed, the amount of groundwater to which it was exposed and the amount of time it resided on Earth — all of which slowly refashioned this mass as it sat near the surface. The result is the exquisite sculptural form now seen.

This select example has little in common with the shape of the vast majority of all iron meteorites which are typically prosaic, non-descript forms. With a profusion of scoops and crests, a burnished silver-hued patina with bright chrome accents grace this remarkable meteorite fashioned by the monumental forces encountered in space, superheating in Earth’s atmosphere and the multi-millennial exposure to Earth’s elements. Accompanied by a custom pedestal.

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.


194 x 477 x 269mm (7.66 x 18 .75 x 10.5 inches) and 53.42 kg (117 pounds).