Sotheby's has a prized toilet up for auction to the tune of $10 million.
On Friday, the premier fine art corporation announced that it would be auctioning an original solid gold toilet created by Italian sculptor Maurizio Cattelan, entitled "America." Sotheby's called the satirical piece, made of 101.2 kilograms (223 pounds) of gold, an "incisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value."
Two versions of the 18-carat toilet were made, with one being showcased at the Guggenheim Museum in 2016. The version being auctioned has been owned by a mystery collector since 2017.
Cattelan often satirizes excessive displays of wealth in his pieces. One of the artist's most popular works is 2019's "Comedian," a banana duct-taped to a wall. The piece was sold to Chinese cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun for $6.2 million in 2024, and was promptly eaten by the entrepreneur.
As for "America," the toilet is fully functional and was robbed from the Blenheim Palace in 2019. This year, several men were arrested for the crime, with two being convicted for their involvement in the heist.
David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s New York location, called "America" "the complete inverse" of value in an interview with ABC News.
"It is a perfect foil in that this work has a lot of intrinsic value in a way that most artworks do not," he said. "The question of the proportion of value between the raw materials and the artistic idea is very on the table here."
After being exhibited in the Breuer Building, Sotheby's New York headquarters, starting November 8–visitors can observe but can not use the object–the auction for "America" will begin on November 18 in New York.