Overview
- The fully functional 18‑karat work, titled America, sold for $12.1 million with fees after hammering at $10 million.
- Sotheby’s set the opening bid to roughly match the sculpture’s bullion value of about $10 million based on its 101‑kilogram weight.
- Only one bidder, participating by phone, bought the piece as reports pointed to limited competition during the evening sale.
- The consigned example came from Mets owner Steve Cohen, who acquired it in 2017 from Marian Goodman Gallery.
- Another edition was stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019, remains unrecovered, and Sotheby’s described this lot as the only existing edition.