Meteorites, Fossils, and a Dinosaur Tooth Sold! at Christie's Auction

A spectacular, 2520 pound iron meteorite found in the South Australian Outback in 1909. This meteorite shares many common elements to those sold in Christie's Sculpted by Nature Auction. Photo from Flickr.   Meteorites, fossils, and a dinosaur tooth. Just a few of the spectacular creations made by Mother Earth available at auction this past November during Christie's annual online sale, Sculpted by Nature. Christie's offered collectors a chance to purchase natural tectonic art forms, sculptural fossils, ancient animal relics, and exceptional meteorites. Altogether, the 71 lots which sold realized a total of $617,692.  

Meteorites - Space Art

Two meteorite specimens fetched top bids. The first, a Dronino Meteorite, brought in over $29,000. Described as an extraterrestrial zoomorphic tabletop sculpture, this iron meteorite was discovered in the Ryazin district in Russia. Its iron composition took on a wavy, textured appearance with a platinum-colored patina. This surface texture remains singular to the Dronino meteorites, a result of the way their unique properties interact with the properties of Earth's terra firma. Another meteorite sold for just over $26,000. Christie's described this meteorite, also comprised of iron, as an aesthetic tabletop Campo del Cielo meteorite. Found in Gran Chaco, Argentina, this spectacular space sculpture appears as though wrapped in pewter and speckled with bright highlights and charcoal accents. Certainly, the most compelling aspect of this meteorite is its regmaglypts. These thumbprints represent physiological proof of the space rock's flight through space and into the Earth's atmosphere. Christie's calls them "flight markings." How spectacular!!  

Fossils + A Dinosaur Tooth

In contrast to these otherworldly spectacles, two down-to-earth specimens competed soundly as top sellers. The first, a 2-1/2" tooth from a Tyrannosaurus Rex, sold for just over $27,700. This almost perfectly preserved dinosaur tooth hails from Harding County, South Dakota. As part of the Hell Creek Formation, it belongs to the Maastrichtian time period, in the uppermost portion of the late Cretaceous. In years, that translates to between 72 and 66 million years ago. Finally, we come to A Fossil - Sea Lily Group. This gorgeous specimen of ancient flora sold for a startling $24,462. Dating far before the dinosaur tooth, to between 174 and 182 million years ago, this exquisite impression formed in Holzmaden, Germany. The four captured specimens represent perfectly the crowns of Seirocrinus subangularis, the Jurassic Sea Lily. Holzmaden is home to the Posidonienschiefer Formation, a world-famous location for fossils from the Jurassic period. Although they represent a small portion of the art that passes through Christie's on an annual basis, I consider these truly ancient artforms, singularly crafted by nature, among the most important. I'm looking forward to next year's auction already!