This is a section of the Death Star surface used in the first movie "Star Wars - A New Hope". There were several different sized "tiles" created from as small as 3 inches square, up to 24 inches square. This piece measures about 6 inches by about 3 inches. The tiles were painted differently and placed in multiple places to represent the surface of the Death Star. It is made of a very dense, light weight foam type material, which shows it's age with yellowing on the bottom and some sides.
Filming of the miniatures was done by sending a motion control camera down the trench attached to a boom. The surface pieces were sometimes filmed outdoors in order to have the sun provide the necessary lighting. This particular section has a very rare design on the surface. We were able to find this design on a section that was shown at the 10th Anniversary Star Wars convention in Los Angeles in May 1987 where ILM allowed people to "touch the surface of the Death Star".
The piece is displayed in a custom built plexiglass display box that is 15" wide x 9" tall x 7.5" deep.
To read about the details of these displays and to see several other available sections, click on the following link: Death Star Sections