A Scottish town council paid £5 ($6) for an 18th-century bust almost a century ago; it might fetch more than £2.5 million ($3 million) at auction.
Renowned French artist Edmé Bouchardon sculpted the bust of landowner and lawmaker John Gordon.
According to a council report, local politicians on the Invergordon Town Council are currently debating whether to sell the artwork, which Sotheby’s called “brilliant in execution.”
According to the report, a private individual has already made an offer to buy the sculpture from Sotheby’s, and the auction house’s specialists think its value has peaked.
The bust’s fate will be decided by council members on Monday, according to a statement. The article also stated that proceeds from the sale might be used to “reactivate” the Invergordon Common Good Fund for the “benefit of the community,” however any sale would be subject to extensive community engagement.
When the sculpture was first put on display in the town hall, it was prized more for its portrayal of Gordon than for the skill of its sculptor. Gordon is credited with founding Invergordon, a small Scottish seaside town located 180 miles (approximately 300 km) north of Edinburgh, the country’s capital.
Bouchardon sculpted the bust in 1728 while he was living in Rome and Gordon was travelling on his Grand Tour, a rite of passage that young, aristocratic, and mostly English men took throughout Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Bouchardon used a style that wasn’t widely adopted until many years later.
Among his many achievements, Bouchardon sculpted Louis XV. His 17-foot sculpture of the French king stood in the Place de la Concorde in Paris until the French Revolution destroyed it.
In spite of its famous designer, not much information regarding the bust’s travels since the council bought it is available to the general public.
One council member from the area claims that in 1998, the sculpture was discovered on an industrial development. In 2016, Maxine Smith told The Scotsman that she stumbled upon the bust 25 years ago when looking for antique robes and saw it being used to keep open a door.
“I managed to get the key from the council. I found the robes and there was this bust just propping the door open,” she said.
“The insurance team got in and we found that it was worth so much money. Back then it was worth about £200,000.”
The bust was shown in the Getty Centre in Los Angeles and the Louvre Museum in Paris once it was found and identified, according to the council.
However, because displaying it would pose security threats, it is still kept in tight storage at the Inverness Museum & Art Gallery in Scotland.
