ATRE NINEWEH

Tiny lioness figure fetches hefty $57M US at auction
Last Updated: Thursday, December 6, 2007 | 11:27 AM ET
CBC News
A limestone lioness sculpture small enough to fit into one hand has fetched a record-setting $57 million US at a Sotheby's auction in New York.


A 5,000 year old Mesopotamian figure called the Guennol Lioness shattered sculpture sale records when it sold Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York for $57 million.
(Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)
An anonymous bidder purchased the Guennol Lioness for $57.16 million US (including auction house premium).

Standing just a touch over 8 cm high, the artifact hails from ancient Mesopotamia and is believed to be at least 5,000 years old.

Collectors Alastair and Edith Martin acquired the tiny lion figure — discovered in Baghdad — in 1948. It has been on loan for nearly 60 years.

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Proceeds from the sale of the sculpture will benefit a charitable trust set up by the couple.

Wednesday's sale shattered records set earlier this year for the sale of any sculpture or antiquity at auction.

The tiny lioness surpassed the $29.1 million US that Pablo Picasso's bronze sculpture Tête de Femme (Dora Maar) fetched in November, as well as the $28.6 million US paid for the 2,000-year-old Roman bronze Artemis and the Stag in June. Both were also sold by Sotheby's.



With files from the Associated Press and the Australian Broadcasting