Editor’s Note
This article explores the upcoming auction of a unique golden toilet in New York, contrasting everyday bathroom fixtures with an extraordinary luxury item.
A toilet pot is a necessity in every home, typically available for a few thousand rupees. Most toilet pots are made of ceramic or porcelain.
However, have you ever seen a golden toilet pot? Yes, some people use toilet pots made of such an expensive metal.
Now, just such a golden toilet pot is going to be auctioned in New York. Let’s learn in detail about its auction.
When will its auction be held?
This could be the world’s most expensive toilet pot, with its auction being organized by ‘Sotheby’s’. The auction house made its official announcement on October 31st, i.e., Friday.
It was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was titled ‘America’. Its auction is scheduled for November 18th, and its estimated price will blow your mind.
It could sell for up to 88 crore rupees.
This toilet pot was created as an artwork
This toilet pot was not made merely for decoration. It is fully functional and can actually be used.
It was made using 101.2 kilograms, i.e., 223 pounds of gold. Cattelan created it as an artwork, which, according to him, satirizes ‘excessive wealth’.
Two versions were made in 2016, and the one being sold has been with an anonymous collector since 2017.
This toilet pot will be displayed at Sotheby’s headquarters
Cattelan said humorously about the toilet pot.
The auction house was not prepared to estimate how much the toilet could sell for. This is because several questions have been raised about the prices of Cattelan’s previous artworks.
‘America’ will be on display at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, the ‘Breuer Building’, from November 8th. It will be placed in a bathroom.
The second ‘America’ toilet pot was stolen
The second version of ‘America’ was displayed in the bathroom of the Guggenheim Museum in 2016. The museum had offered it to US President Donald Trump during his first term.
In 2019, it was displayed at Blenheim Palace, from where it was stolen. The thieves were arrested, but the toilet pot was never found.
During the exhibition, it was connected to plumbing, and people could use it for 3 minutes.
Cattelan also created the banana artwork mounted on the wall
Cattelan is the same artist who created the world-famous ‘duct-taped banana‘ artwork. It was sold for 55 crore rupees at an auction in New York last year.