Invergordon shed door marble bust could be sold
High Life HighlandA valuable marble bust that was lost for years before being found propping open a shed door on a Highlands industrial estate could be sold.
The sculpture of Sir John Gordon was made by French artist Edme Bouchardon in 1728, and estimated to be worth about £1.4m in a valuation in 2016.
Highland Council, which has a role in looking after the artwork, has held initial discussions with specialists.
The potential sale would benefit Invergordon Common Good Fund.
The fund provides grant assistance to projects in the town and surrounding area.
A report to Highland Council's Easter Ross area committee next week said advice had been sought from specialists at auctioneers Sotheby's.
Councillors are to receive a more detailed report on the potential sale at a later date.
Sir John was an MP whose family owned land in Easter Ross in the Highlands and also gave their name to the town of Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth.
Bouchardon created sculptures for the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, the former home of French royalty, and also made the Fontaine des Quatre Saisons in rue de Grenelle, Paris.
Years after he made his sculpture of Sir John, the bust was placed in the care of Invergordon Town Council.
It was then thought to have been mislaid and lost during local government reorganisation before it was rediscovered being used as a door stop for a shed in an industrial estate in Balintore, near Invergordon, in 1998.
Eight years ago, a row broke out after Highland Council suggested it might sell the bust.
Rob Gibson, SNP MSP for the local area at the time, argued against the local authority going ahead with the sale because he believed the artwork was bequeathed to the community of Invergordon in the 1920s.
High Life HighlandDocuments backing the community claim to the bust were thought to have been destroyed some time in the past 40 years.
In 2016, the bust was exhibited at The Louvre in Paris and the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
High Life Highland looks after the sculpture on behalf of Highland Council.