HOW HIGH THE MOON? CHRISTIE'S TO OFFER A VERY JAZZY PIECE OF THE MOON ON APRIL 20, 2016
Moon Rock touched by the stars including Kevin Spacey,
Herbie Hancock, Pharrell Williams, Goldie Hawn, and Quincy Jones and to be offered during
Christie's first dedicated auction to Meteorites
- 100% of the Proceeds to Benefit the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz -
Among the 80 meteorites featured in Christie's first dedicated auction of METEORITES on Wednesday, April 20th, there is one specimen that's especially "of note" from the Moon. Academy Award winning actor Kevin Spacey (L.A. Confidential, American Beauty) had this particular piece of the Moon in
his pocket as he sang "Fly Me to the Moon" at the Thelonious Monk
Institute's Gala on November 9, 2014 at the Dolby Theater in Los
Angeles. Twenty-two other luminaries touched this same piece of the Moon
that evening and signed their names to a document that states, "I
touched the Moon at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz All Star Jazz
Salute to Bill Clinton." Signatories include Herbie Hancock, Pharrell Williams, Goldie Hawn, Quincy Jones, Don Cheadle, Dianne Reeves...and Mr. Spacey.
The
winning bidder for this lot receives the Moon - not all of it, just the
portion indicated - as well as the documentation (estimate: $25,000 -
$35,000). 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this lot will benefit
the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the world's largest non-profit devoted to nurturing musical excellence in jazz.
While
this is the single most star-struck piece of the Moon to exist, it
might be noted that the Moon is among the rarest substances on Earth. Of
the nearly 900 pounds of the Moon returned by the Apollo missions, not
one gram is available to public. Of the only 350 pounds of lunar
meteorites known to exist, a significant fraction of this amount is
institutionally controlled. Moon Rocks are identified by highly specific
textural, mineralogical chemical and radiation signatures. This
specimen was donated by Darryl Pitt and the meteorite from which the
specimen originated is at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum. Renowned
meteoriticist Dr. Tony Irving at the University of Washington did the
classification.
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