Second casting of solid gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace up for sale

A second solid gold toilet is to be auctioned after the first cast was stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019.

Created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, America is a fully functional toilet made of more than 15.13 lb (101.2 kg) of 18-karat pure gold.

An early version of the work was first installed in a public bathroom at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, but was brought to the fore again three years later when a gang of thieves stole it from Blenheim in Oxfordshire.

Now, the existence of a second gold toilet has been revealed, which will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s in New York City on November 18.

While the first toilet was at the Guggenheim, it is estimated that more than 100,000 people used it before it was moved and displayed at Blenheim Palace.

He was there in the early hours of September 14, 2019. five men enteredHe ripped off his £4.8million solid gold installation and made off in a stolen Volkswagen Golf.

The robbery and subsequent trial made worldwide news.

James Sheen, 40, of Oxford, pleaded guilty in 2024 to theft and transferring criminal property. Michael Jones, 39, of Oxford, was convicted of burglary in March. Both 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 announced that Cattelan produced three toilets in 2016, and work number two is currently on sale.

The second version will be displayed in a bathroom in New York’s Breuer Building until it goes under the hammer.

The auction house called it a “cultural phenomenon” and a “sharp commentary on the conflict between artistic production and commodity value.”

David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s New York, said: “America is Maurizio Cattelan’s tour de force.”

“This work, which holds up both a proverbial and literal mirror to the art world, confronts the most troubling questions about art and the market institutions and belief systems sacred to the museum,” Mr. Galperin explained.

The auction house said, in a world first, the starting bid for the artwork will be determined by the exact price of the work’s gold weight when the sale begins.

This means bidding for the solid gold toilet would start at around $10 million (£7.6 million) if sold at today’s exchange rate.