DROUOT
Thursday 20 Jun at : 14:00 (CEST) , resuming at 00:00

SUMMER LIVE Sale 158

Dogny Auction - +41796074107 - Email

2, chemin de Montelly 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland
Exhibition of lots
vendredi 31 mai - 14:00/18:00, null
samedi 01 juin - 14:00/18:00, null
dimanche 02 juin - 14:00/18:00, null
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205 results

Lot 343 - Imposing iron-nickel meteorite (Siderite - Iron, IAB-MG) Nantan, China. Found in 1958. Fall: 1516, Guangxi Province, 25°6N, 107°42 E. Southern China. Class: Octahedrites IIICD Mineralogical composition: Iron (92.35%), Nickel (6.96%) Weight: 105 kg Density: 7.8 to 8 Dim. approx.: 46 x 24 x 31 cm The meteorite has a rather intense blackish-gray coloration with bronze-colored rusty patina patches on the surface. Reference: Oxford University has another fragment of the Natan meteorite ref. Mt.500. See a description at: https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/nantan-meteorite-0 Another fragment was auctioned at Heritage auction on June 17, 2021 under lot #48159 and another at Sotheby's NY on July 27, 2022 under lot 125. Provenance: Manuela Schaaf Sàrl Lausanne Feb. 10, 2006 Private collection since, to date Note: The Natan meteorite on offer here dates back 4.5 billion years, making it as old as the earth itself. The meteorite had a mass of 9.5 tons, fragmented on collision with the earth in 1516 and scattered its debris over an area 27-28 km long and 8 km wide. The epicenter was the city of Lihu and the regions of Ladan and Bayan. The fall is recorded in the Nantan County archives: "Zhengde 11th year (named after the Ming Dynasty emperor), shooting stars fell in summer from the northwest". In 1958, the Chinese needed a lot of steel to rebuild "New China". The people of Nantan County were happy to find these stones very heavy and rich in iron. Unfortunately, these "iron stones" did not melt due to their high nickel content, which puzzled the Chinese metallurgists. A report was then sent to the government, who sent geologists to the site, and after inspection, it turned out to be meteorites. The Nantan meteorites have an interesting history - both extraterrestrial and terrestrial. While most iron meteorites are released from the cores of asteroids following a catastrophic collision with another asteroid, Nantan - and other meteorites classified as IAB irons - were formed near the surface of a stony asteroid following a huge impact which then underwent a subsequent impact, and the Nantan one is thought to have come from the asteroid belt circulating between Mars and Jupiter. If the specimen now proposed were cut, a robust mid-octahedral crystalline pattern would be visible, such as that seen on the dials of some Omega Constellations.

Estim. 20 000 - 30 000 CHF