Sotheby’sRipley’s Believe It or Not! bought a gold toilet that sold for $12.1 million (£9.3 million) at auction, after its first cast piece was stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019.
America, created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, is a fully functional toilet, manufactured of over 15 pounds (101.2 kg) of solid 18 karat gold.
The first version of the work was initially installed in a public bathroom at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, but it made headlines again three years later when a gang of thieves stole it from Oxfordshire Palace.
The existence of a second gold toilet was later revealed and was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York City on Tuesday. The 101kg toilet received only one offer.
The auction house said that, for the first time in the world, the starting bid would be determined by the exact price of its weight in gold, around $10 million (£7.6 million).
While it only said that it was purchased by a famous American brand, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! They later revealed themselves as the mystery buyer in an Instagram post, writing “we are filled with excitement.”
The entertainment company operates attractions including museums of oddities and aquariums around the world.
She made headlines in 2022 for allowing celebrity and businesswoman Kim Kardashian to wear a dress owned by Marilyn Monroe at the Met Gala.
Now, his team says they are “exploring possibilities” about whether guests will ever be allowed to “take the best gold seat.”
“An opportunity like this requires serious planning and someone brave enough to ensure everything keeps flowing in the right direction,” Ripley added.
The artwork achieved the second highest price for a Cattelan piece at auction. His sculpture of a kneeling Hitler sold for $17.2 million (£11.9 million) in 2016.
It is estimated that more than 100,000 people used the first bathroom while it was at the Guggenheim before it was moved and displayed at Blenheim Palace.
It was there that, in the early hours of September 14, 2019, five men forced their way in, ripped out the £4.8 million solid gold facility and fled in a stolen Volkswagen Golf.
The robbery and the trial that followed made headlines around the world.
Sotheby’sJames Sheen, 40, of Oxford, pleaded guilty to theft and criminal transfer of property in 2024. Michael Jones, 39, of Oxford, was found guilty of theft in March. Both were jailed earlier this year.
Fred Doe, 36, of Windsor, was also found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and received a suspended sentence.
Sotheby’s revealed that Cattelan created three toilets in 2016, and the second version was on display in a bathroom in New York’s Breuer Building until it went on sale.
The auction house described it as a “cultural phenomenon” and an “incisive commentary on the collision between artistic production and commodity value.”
David Galperin, director of contemporary art at Sotheby’s New York, called it Cattelan’s “tour de force.”
“As a proverbial and literal mirror of the art world, the work confronts the most uncomfortable questions about art and the belief systems considered sacred to the institutions of the market and the museum,” he said.
That same night, a portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold for $236.4 million (£179 million), making it the second most expensive piece ever sold at auction.
