Golden toilet named America sells for more than $12 million

The luxurious lavatory was made using more than 100 kilograms of 18-karat gold.

A fully functioning golden toilet has sold for an incredible $12.1 million (£9.2m) at auction.

The pricey privy was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan using around 223 pounds (101.2kg) of 18-karat gold.

Auctioneer Sotheby’s put the work of art under the hammer earlier this week, with entertainment company Ripley’s Believe it or Not! snapping it up.

It was the only bid received.

Remarkably, the company suggested in an Instagram post that it would consider installing the toilet in one of its venues to allow visitors to "take the ultimate golden seat".

It added: "Such an opportunity requires serious planning and someone brave enough to ensure everything keeps flowing in the right direction.”

The toilet is actually a second casting after the first version was famously stolen from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, six years ago.

While some of the thieves involved in the crime were jailed earlier this year, the $6.3 million (£4.8m) artwork has never been recovered.

A toilet named America

Like its predecessor, conceptual artist Cattelan also named this artwork America.

Sotheby’s put it up for auction with a starting bid of around $10 million (£7.6m), which was the value of its weight in 18-karat gold at the time of the sale.

The auction house claimed the golden throne had become “one of the century’s most influential – and infamous – artworks”.

David Galperin, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s New York, said of the toilet: “Holding both a proverbial and literal mirror to the art world, the work confronts the most uncomfortable questions about art, and the belief systems held sacred to the institutions of the market and the museum.”

Top banana

This certainly isn’t the first time that one of artist Maurizio Cattelan’s creations has hit the headlines.

Most recently, an artwork that consisted of a fresh banana duct-taped to the wall sold for an incredible $6.2 million (£4.7m) at auction in 2024.

The work, titled Comedian, was purchased by crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, who promptly pledged to eat the banana.

He followed through with his promise at a later press conference in Hong Kong, noting that it was “much better than other bananas”.

We should note this doesn’t mean he lost all his money: his $6.2 million didn’t purchase the fruit itself, or the duct tape for that matter.

Instead, it paid for the right to create and display the installation along with instructions on how to recreate it.

So as long as Sun has bananas and tape, Comedian will live on.