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The world's most controversial auction sales

High stakes and high jinks in items brought under the hammer
Fake Hitler paintings – auction cancelled
Intimate Madonna items – auction cancelled
Rhino horn – $7,600 (£6.2k) auction fee
Guillotine replica – $8,900 (£7.3k)
Stalin death mask – $17,200 (£13.5k)
19th-century Maori toothpaste lid – $21,622 (£17,462)
AI portrait – $432,500 (£355k)
Ronnie Wood's personal belongings – $487,000 (£400k)
Hertfordshire County Council art collection – $571,000 (£469.3k)
Banksy mural Slave Labour – $730,000 (£600k)
Hopi Native American artefacts – $1 million (£850k)
Sacred Navajo masks – $1.1 million (£900k)
Banksy stencil Girl With Balloon – $1.3 million (£1.04m)
Nationalist statue of Robert E Lee – $1.4 million (£1.15m)
Mahatma Gandhi items – $1.8 million (£1.5m)
Apollo 11 moon dust – $1.8 million (£1.5m)
Dinosaur skeleton – $2.3 million (£1.9m)
Safari hunting licences – $2.7 million (£2.2m)
Einstein's 'God letter' – $2.89 million (£2.35m)
Robert Indiana paintings – $5 million (£4.1m)
Tutankhamun bust – $5.7 million (£4.7m)
Rubens drawing – $8.2 million (£6.6m)
Praying Hitler statue – $17.2 million (£14m)
Northampton Sekhemka statue – $19 million (£15.8m)
Indian artefacts – $109 million (£89m)
The Toulouse Caravaggio – valued $170 million (£139m)
Salvator Mundi – $450 million (£370m)
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BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

High stakes and high jinks in items brought under the hammer

We assume that the high-end artworks sold at auction are real, reputable and legal, but this isn't always the case. Looting and lies, forgery and theft – plus the odd stunt – all play their part in this world where the stakes are high and the profit margins huge. With a Tutankhamun bust selling in the millions recently, leading to an impending court case, and a sold Banksy stencil shredding in front of the auction house's eyes, we take a look at the most controversial and heavily criticised auctions around the globe.

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Mab Jones

15 August 2019

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