[meteorite-list] bonhams meteorite auction

[Darryl Pitt]

bonhams should be making all the numbers available momentarily.

l'aigle - one of the two lots which did not sell. (the other was the  
back plate of the claxton mailbox).  ((and yes, i'm not including  
brenham or willamette  ;-)

ensisheim -  $4,750
holbrook - $13,000




On Oct 29, 2007, at 5:51 PM, Zelimir.Gabelica at uha.fr wrote:

> 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 <Darryl at dof3.com> 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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>
>
>
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