Sculptural Oriented Meteorite

About the Item

Oriented Chondrite Meteorite Circa 4.56 Billion y/o Chondrite 24 x 20 cm, 28 cm tall on base 7.1 kg A sculptural and beautifully weathered chondrite meteorite; upon entering the atmosphere, this extraterrestrial stone would have heated the surrounding air to a temperature of over 1700 C, higher than that of the hottest lava on the planet, and enough to melt away its outer layers, leaving its surface rippled with regmaglypts, thumb-shaped impressions formed as superheated rock streaked off of the main body as it careened toward the earth. The last layer of the rock to melt would have re-solidified as the meteorite made impact, forming a charcoal coloured fusion crust, which has taken on a deep ochre-tinted patina. Chondrite meteorites such as this example were formed at the very beginning of our solar system, by the accretion of various types of dust and small grains, adrift in the vacuum of space and, as such, provide important clues about the birth of our own planet. This piece is an especially rare specimen, known as an oriented meteorite, named for how these types of meteorite fell to Earth. Whilst most meteors tumble as they travel through the atmosphere, oriented meteorites maintain a stable trajectory, thus taking on a domed or conical shape as the outer layers of molten rock fall away. This phenomenon is extremely rare, with less than one percent of meteorites belonging to this category. In the Classical world, these mysterious extraterrestrial stones, sometimes referred to as ‘the images that fell from Jupiter’, other times as ‘baetyl’ (from the Semitic ‘bet El’, meaning ‘house of God’) - were widely venerated as cult-statues, said to have been sent to Earth by the very gods themselves. Perhaps the most famous of these - widely suspected to have been of meteoric origin - was the kept at the famous precinct of Aphrodite at Paphos, of which Homer wrote: ‘Aphrodite [...] flew to Cyprus, to Paphos, the seat of her sanctuary and her perfumed altar’; Tacitus remarks of this sanctuary: ‘Blood may not be shed upon the altar, but offering is made only with prayers and pure fire. The altar is never wet by any rain, although it is in the open air. The representa- tion of the goddess is not in human form, but it is a circular mass that is broader at the base and rises like a turning-post to a small circumference at the top. The reason for this is obscure.’ Provenance: Discovered in Northwest Africa, exact coordinates unknown.

Dimensions:

Height: 9.45 in (24 cm)Diameter: 7.88 in (20 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Stone

Period:

15th Century and Earlier

Date of Manufacture:

4.56 billion years before present

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

London, GB