Does somebody know (Darryl ?) for how much did the following items
sell at the Bonham's auction ?
- l'Aigle (with old label)
- Ensisheim
- Holbrook 604 g
Regarding Ensisheim, if sold, how can one learn who was the bidder
(supposed to be the new happy owner) ? (assuming the bidder was not
anonymous nor the info confidential) ?
Not curiosity but I just wish to complete/update my compilation of
Ensisheim meteorite owners...
Thanks!
Zelimir
Darryl Pitt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> a écrit :
The following was issued by Bonhams.
===========================
Meteorite Shower in Manhattan Today
Bonhams' auction brings large crowd and strong prices
Meteorite collectors, scientists, and admirers of sculptural artifacts
from outer space bid today for Historic Meteorites and Related
Americana in the first sale exclusively dedicated to meteorites to be
held by a major auction house. Auctioneers Bonhams opened its New York
City salesroom today (Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007) for a 53-lot sale which
featured important examples of intergalactic collectibles. The sale
brought $750,000, with more than half the lots selling above their high
estimates and a strong sell-through rate (at 93%) overall.
Meteorite expert Darryl Pitt sees the international interest in the
sale as supportive of his assertion that the market is robust and
rapidly growing, the most desirable objects seeing interest from
private collectors and institutions alike. Claudia Florian, Natural
History Specialist and organizer of the Bonhams sale, stated that she
was delighted with the buoyant results -- which indicate the overall
strength of the market. "The results were stronger than anticipated
with a near-perfect result. We hope to conclude sales on the handful
of unsold lots in the next several days."
Top lot sold today was a specimen described as the epitome of an iron
meteorite. It came to Earth during the largest meteorite shower in
human history and was retrieved from Siberia, Russia. This
Sikhote-Alin brought $122,750 (estimate $55/70,000).
An interesting lot attracting competitive bids from privates and
institutional curators is the only known mailbox to have been impacted
by a meteorite. A grey-painted steel mailbox from Claxton, Georgia,
near Atlanta, was struck in December of 1984. The dented mailbox sold
for $82,750 on Sunday. A 5.5-gram slice of the meteorite that caused
the damage to the mailbox sold for $7,768. A 23-gram slice of a
meteorite which hit a car in Peekskill, NY was offered with pieces of
the car, it sold for $1,673.
-More-
Meteorites and Bonhams Auction
-2-
A slice of a meteorite composed of gemstones sold for $82,750, this
example of a pallasite, dubbed the Glorieta Mountain meteorite -- found
in New Mexico -- displays a wonderful array of olivine crystals within
its nickel-iron matrix. A slice of a meteorite formerly within a
London museum sold for $77,000, the shape of the specimen is a baseball
home plate, the complete mass displaying olive and peridot clusters.
Aesthetic meteorites are extremely rare. Sculpture collectors have
expressed interest in these specimens given their eye-pleasing forms.
One of these, a Gibeon from Namibia, sold for $77,000. Another
example, described as tabletop sculpture, sold for more than four times
its estimate, bringing $26,888.
The path to Earth is not without its perils, meteorites often
disintegrate long before impact. Some examples land with thumb prints
or regmaglypts and an example with a deep scoop, referred to as an
extraterrestrial candy bowl (which weighs 68-pounds), doubled its
estimate to bring $38,838.
Bidders spanned the planet, with those in the auction room competing
with bidders on the telephones from Canada, Europe, the Middle East and
Australia, as well as many parts of the US. The illustrated catalogue
will remain online for review at www.bonhams.com/us.
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