[meteorite-list] bonhams meteorite auction

Mon Oct 29 18:51:00 EDT 2007

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

>
> 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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