NEW YORK CITY — Christie’s hosted an online-only sale February 7–14 featuring important and aesthetic meteorites. Led by prized examples of naturally sculpted metallic meteorites, the sale featured some of the oldest objects in the world — at 4.5 billion years old, they are a third as old as time itself. The sculptural appearance of these iron and stone meteorites has been formed by the cosmic forces involved in their flight to Earth and subsequent histories.

A matchless Canyon Diablo meteorite — so named because it is made of iron and comes from what is known as Meteor Crater in Arizona — sold for a record $237,500. Evocative of a Henry Moore sculpture, the meteorite is said to have crashed into the Arizona desert nearly 50,000 years ago and is itself more than four billion years old, having originated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It was once part of the molten iron core of an asteroid that broke apart—a portion of which was deflected into an Earth-intersecting orbit before it plowed into the Arizona desert with the force of more than 100 atomic bombs. It was collected from Meteor Crater, Coconino County, Ariz., measures 13½ by 8 by 7¼ inches and weighs 70 pounds.

For information, 212-636-2000 or www.christies.com.