How a shed ‘doorstop’ now has pride of place in Louvre exhibition
IT was discovered propping open a shed door at an industrial estate in a Highland village.
As work and bustle went on all around, staff at the council store probably didn’t even give the elegant marble bust, with its finely carved features, a second glance.
Now, however, the 18th century sculpture, depicting MP Sir John Gordon, has been valued at an eye-watering £1.4million, and is on display in a far more glamorous location – the Louvre museum.
Few Parisian art-lovers will be aware that the bust, carved in 1728 by French artist Edmé Bouchardon, has had such a remarkable history. It was thought to have been lost during local government reorganisation, before councillor Maxine Smith rediscovered it 18 years ago in Balintore, near Sir John’s Invergordon homeland in Ross-shire.
She said: ‘I started asking the council what happened to the old provost’s robes and chains and one councillor suggested I try this shed. I managed to get the key from the council. I found the robes and there was this bust just propping the door open. ‘I went back to the council and said that there was a bunch of stuff that looked like it was worth a lot of money and they needed to get it out in case someone stole it. The insurance team got in and we found that it was worth so much money. Back then it was worth about £200,000.’
Sir John’s family owned land in Easter Ross and also gave their name
‘Just propping the door open’
to Invergordon. The bust was later placed in the town council’s care, and Mrs Smith thinks that it must have been put in the shed in the late 1980s or early 1990s, during a local government reshuffle.
She added: ‘It was about a year before we were told how much it was worth. It was quite a shock and delight because I found it before it could have got stolen.’
Classed as a Highland Council asset, the bust has been stored ever since at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery. Now, however, it has temporarily gone on display in an exhibition celebrating Bouchardon’s work. It will move from Paris to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles before returning to Inverness next spring.
Mrs Smith is delighted that the sculpture is going on tour. ‘I think that’s fantastic,’ she said.
‘Anything that puts the Highlands in the spotlight is a good thing and it’s great that people are getting pleasure out of something old.’
Following the discovery, a row broke out over ownership of the bust.
In November 2014, Highland Council suggested it may sell it.
But Rob Gibson, a former Nationalist MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, said: ‘These common goods should remain the property of the people in the area, which is Invergordon.
‘Highland Council is a register on the common good fund and they should respect the original owners.’
A spokesman for Highland Council said: ‘The council, through its statutory predecessor, has accordingly had possession of the bust for at least 60 years.
‘Council records dating back to 1955 show the bust to be on a list of items under ownership of the local government.’