Bust Bought for $6 Could Sell for $3M

It adorned a castle in the 19th century. It was purchased for just over $6 in a 1930 auction. And in 1998, it was used as a doorstop on a shed. Now, there could be another twist in the fate of the Bouchardon Bust, an early 18th-century sculpture of Scottish politician John Gordon that could fetch more than $3 million. The small Scottish town of Invergordon, the former Gordon family seat whose council purchased the marble bust at the 1930 auction before misplacing it for decades, has moved to sell the work to an overseas buyer who's offered up $3.2 million, along with a promise to replace the original with a museum-quality replica for Invergordon's residents to enjoy, per CNN.

The bust is by Edme Bouchardon, "celebrated sculptor to French King Louis XV," whose neoclassical monuments include Paris' iconic Fountain of the Four Seasons and various works in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, per Artnet. Completed in 1728, the bust of Gordon, a former secretary for Scotland, was kept in Invergordon Castle for more than two centuries before the castle was sold in the 1920s. The local council bought the bust at a 1930 auction but misplaced it afterwards. It was rediscovered in 1998 "propping open a shed door in the nearby village of Balintore," Artnet reports, adding that the Highland Council then put it in storage, deciding the cost to insure the artifact for public display was too great.

The council toyed with selling the bust a decade ago but instead loaned it to museums, including Paris' Louvre and Los Angeles' Getty Museum, per CNN. Then in May, council members reported that an overseas buyer had offered $3.2 million for the bust. After public consultation, the council agreed to sell the sculpture to fund local projects. Councilor Maxine Smith tells Artnet the interest on the purchase price could amount to $160,000 annually. However, it's not yet clear whether the overseas export will be allowed. The bust must first clear the Waverley criteria, used to determine whether an object is considered a national treasure worthy of staying in Scotland, CNN reports. (More Scotland stories.)