Lot 27
Imilac
The Robert Elliott Meteorite Collection Part III
Auction: 20 August 2013 at 15:00 BST
Description
full slice
Dimensions
12.6g, 85 x 50mm
Footnote
Provenance: ex Blaine Reed Collection, ex-Lucy Cullen Collection
Imilac (Atacama Desert, Atacama, Chile) Pallasite (stony-iron) - found 1822
This ancient meteorite owes its survival to having landed in the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert. On smaller specimens, the olivine crystals have weathered-out long before the metal matrix - a reversal of the normal sequence of events. This effect produces Imilac "skeletons"; artistic shapes of nickel-iron metal, containing voids and sharp, sculpted edges.
When thinly sliced, larger specimens reveal translucent olivine crystals (semi-precious peridot), surrounded by a web of iron. Pallasites are considered to be one of the most beautiful meteorites, reminiscent of a stained glass window when lit from behind.
The slice offered here has been cut extremely thinly, to about the same thickness as a sheet of paper, and expertly polished.