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Sotheby’sIn 2019, after the first cast was stolen from Blenheim Palace, the Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum bought a gold toilet, which sold at auction for $12.1 million (£9.3 million).
Created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, America is a fully functional toilet. From over 15 pieces of 13 lb (101.2 kg) solid 18 karat gold.
The first version of the work was originally installed in a public bathhouse at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 2016, but it returned to the news three years later when A gang of thieves stole it from an Oxfordshire palace.
The existence of a second golden toilet was later revealed and it was put up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday. Only one bid was received for the 101kg toilet.
The auction house said the starting price, which would be based on the exact weight of the gold, would be around $10 million (£7.6 million), a first in the world.
Although it is only said that it was purchased from the famous American brand Ripley’s Believe It or Not!. Later, he revealed at an event that he was a mystery buyer Instagram postwrote “We are blushing with excitement.”
The entertainment company operates attractions such as quirky museums and aquariums around the world.
It made headlines in 2022 for allowing celebrity and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian Attending the Met Gala in a dress owned by Marilyn Monroe.
Now, their team says they’re “exploring possibilities” to see if guests could be allowed to “sit in the ultimate prime seats.”
Ripley added: “Opportunities like this require careful planning and people brave enough to make sure everything moves in the right direction.”
The artwork achieved the second-highest price ever paid for a Cattelan work at auction. his sculptures Hitler kneeling Sold in 2016 for $17.2 million (£11.9 million).
It is estimated that the first toilet was used by more than 100,000 people during its time at the Guggenheim Museum and was later moved to Blenheim Palace for display.
In the early morning of September 14, 2019, it was there, Five men broke inripped off a solid gold device worth £4.8 million and fled in a stolen Volkswagen Golf.
The robbery and subsequent trial made news around the world.
Sotheby’sJames Sheen, 40, of Oxford, pleaded guilty to theft and transferring criminal property in 2024. Michael Jones, 39, from Oxford, was convicted of burglary in March. Both are Both men were jailed earlier this year.
Fred Doe, 36, of Windsor, was also found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and was given a suspended sentence.
Sotheby’s revealed that Cattelan created three toilets in 2016, with the second version displayed in a bathroom at New York’s Brower Building until it was auctioned.
The auction house described it as a “cultural phenomenon” and “an incisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value.”
David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s in New York, called it Cattelan’s “masterpiece.”
“This work is both a mirror to the art world and a mirror that confronts some of the most disturbing questions about art and the belief systems surrounding the sanctity of the market and museum institutions,” he said.
On the same night, a portrait by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt Sold for $236.4m (£179m)making it the second most expensive work in auction history.
