In brief
In a stunning acquisition, Ripley's Believe It or Not! has purchased a $12.1 million golden toilet named 'America,' crafted by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. This fully functional piece, made from over 101 kilograms of gold, was first installed in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. After the original was stolen in a notorious heist in 2019, a second version recently went up for auction and was sold to the entertainment company, who hinted at future plans to allow guests to experience the artwork up close.
A gold toilet that fetched $12.1m (£9.3m) at auction was bought by Ripley's Believe It or Not!, after its first casting was stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019.
America, created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, is a fully functional toilet, made from more than 15st 13lb (101.2kg) of solid 18-carat gold.
The first version of the work was initially installed in a public bathroom at the Guggenheim museum in New York in 2016 but hit the news again three years later when a gang of thieves stole it from the Oxfordshire palace.
The existence of a second golden toilet was later revealed, and went under the hammer at Sotheby's in New York City on Tuesday. The 101 kg toilet received just one bid.
