Ripley's Believe It or Not! has made one of its most unusual purchases to date: a solid gold toilet with a $12.1 million price tag. The 18-karat, 100-kilogram functioning toilet was sold at a Sotheby's auction on Tuesday, and Ripley's was revealed the following day to have been the sole bidder, reports the New York Times. The company confirmed the purchase on Wednesday, calling it "one of the wildest acquisitions in its history."
The artwork, titled America, was created in 2016 by conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan. Two versions were made, but one was stolen and destroyed in 2019 while on display at England's Blenheim Palace. The surviving toilet was previously owned by billionaire Steve Cohen, who also owns the New York Mets; what he paid for it in 2017 was not disclosed, but the stolen one had been valued at $5.9 million.
Ripley's has not decided where it will display the toilet or whether visitors will be allowed to use it, but the company is exploring those options. The gold alone is worth around $10 million at current rates, according to Ripley's spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts, making it a particularly "tempting bathroom break." Ripley's paid the equivalent value of gold, which was the starting bid according to the BBC, plus an additional $2 million in premiums to Sotheby's.
The company, known for its oddities and attractions worldwide, intends to keep the toilet as a centerpiece of its collection—it's now the most valuable thing in that collection, ArtNews reports. As John Corcoran, Ripley's director of exhibits, put it: "Finding the unbelievable is our business. But even we never imagined we would one day need a plumber on standby for an art installation."