$6 Marble Bust Was Used as a Doorstop. Now It Could Sell for $3 Million.

An item once treated as worthless could now be sold for $3 million. An early 18th century bust of Sir John Gordon, which was sculpted by Edmé Bouchardon, was purchased by Invergordon Town Council for $6 in 1930.

The council acquired the bust because Gordon is said to be the founder of Invergordon, Scotland. CNN reported that the bust was meant to be placed on display in the town hall, but was instead misplaced.

In 1998, the bust was found, the Highland Council told the outlet. At the time, the sculpture was used to keep a shed door in an industrial park open, per the outlet.

In recent years, the Bouchardon Bust has been displayed at Los Angeles’ Getty Museum and Paris’ Louvre, the Highland Council said. However, due to the value of the bust and security concerns, it hasn’t been put on display locally. It is instead being stored in a secure area in Inverness.

The Bust’s Potential Sale

The council said that Sotheby’s, who described the bust as “brilliant in execution,” has valued the piece at upwards of £2.5 million. That is more than $3 million. An unnamed buyer has offered to pay just that and agreed to fund a museum-quality replica of the bust too.

The sale, however, has been hung up for years as legal battles play out.

It moved one step forward in May when the Black Isle and Easter Ross Area Committee recommended the sale. Then, this month, no objections to its sale were made to the Scottish Highlands’ Tain Sheriff Court, a council spokeswoman told CNN.

The legal back-and-forth isn’t over yet, though. The spokesperson told the outlet that the Waverley Criteria, which determines if “national treasures” should be barred from overseas export, will “almost certainly be triggered.”

Should the sale go through, the council said that the money would go to the Invergordon Common Good Fund. The moneys in the fund are “used for the benefit of the Invergordon community.”