Its varied existence has seen it displayed in The Louvre and even used as a doorstop at an industrial yard by council workers. Now, after putting the 18th-century marble bust of Scots landowner Sir John Gordon up for sale, Highland Council, which looks after the statue, has confirmed it has accepted a ‘serious offer’ for it.
The authority would not reveal the sum involved, but auctioneers had recommended that the bust, bought for just £5 in 1930, be sold for £3.1 million. Invergordon Naval Museum & Heritage Centre told the Mail that it was behind the bid and its ‘expression of interest to acquire the bust’ had been ‘accepted by Highland Council’. It said it will now take a few days to finalise its funding plan.
A Highland Council spokesman said: ‘The council has accepted this offer and the prospective buyer will have five months to raise the funds under this process.’
The bust was sculpted by French artist Edmé Bouchardon in Rome in 1728 after Sir John met him while he was travelling through Europe. He brought it back to Scotland but it went missing after his death. The 18th-century bust of Highland laird and MP Sir John Gordon was not until the late 1990s that it turned up in an industrial estate in Easter Ross where it was being used as a doorstop. Speaking to the Mail in 2016, councillor Maxine Smith – who made the discovery 24 years ago – said: ‘It was just propping the door open.’
Highland Council later discovered the bust had been sold to the former Invergordon Town Council for just £5. The artwork has since been on display at The Louvre in Paris, and at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
There were fears that if it was sold it could be lost to a wealthy foreign buyer. But an export bar was put in place earlier this year to ensure that could not happen. The sale of the bust is expected to benefit the Invergordon Common Good Fund, which provides grants to projects in the area.
