I wouldn't say Objective-C is "elegant" in the same way a scripting language can be, but it and its common libraries (i.e., Cocoa/NextSTEP) illustrate some very sound API design, and object-orientation in the Alan Kay-intended/SmallTalk sense.
edit: sorry, missed your edit. I'd probably agree with you and chc now. Obj-C was a clever hack for its time, but compared to modern dynamic/scripting languages, it's not really that special -- outside from being relatively high-performance due to its C compatibility, as you mentioned.
edit: sorry, missed your edit. I'd probably agree with you and chc now. Obj-C was a clever hack for its time, but compared to modern dynamic/scripting languages, it's not really that special -- outside from being relatively high-performance due to its C compatibility, as you mentioned.