In the past, people have resorted to some unusual items to keep their doors from closing – but this one stands out as the priciest of them all.
A marble bust purchased for a mere $6 has now been appraised at an astonishing $3.2 million, thanks to experts uncovering its historical significance.
Before delving into this incredible story, let’s take a look at some bizarre items people have used to prop their doors open, whether due to strong winds or tightly fitting fire-safety hinges.
One of the most extraordinary instances involved a woman using a live World War One mortar shell, inherited from her grandfather, to keep her door open. The potential danger was only realized when a neighbor alerted the police after witnessing it in use.
“When I was young, five of us children would play with it. I don’t think he would have brought it back if he’d known it was live,” Thelma Bonnett from the UK shared with the Daily Mail.
There was also a farmer who unknowingly used a meteorite worth $100,000 as a doorstop, and a family who propped a door open with a porcelain vase that turned out to be a Chinese relic valued at around $1.25 million.
The most remarkable story, however, involves the Invergordon Town Council’s realization that a marble bust of politician John Gordon, which they acquired nearly a century ago for just $6, was actually valued at as much as $3.2 million.
In today’s currency, the purchase in 1930 would have cost the council approximately $500, with Gordon believed to be the founder of the town.
After its acquisition, the bust was never displayed in the town hall and eventually disappeared. It wasn’t rediscovered until 1998 when someone familiar with the piece – crafted by French sculptor Edmé Bouchardon in the early 18th century – was astonished to find it being used to prop open a shed door in an industrial park.
The bust is believed to have been sculpted in 1728 during Gordon’s ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe, a common tradition among young, affluent men of that era.
The Bouchardon bust has since been sold for around $3.2 million, with the buyer offering to fund a ‘museum-quality replica’ for display in the town.
This sculpture might just be the luckiest in the world, having survived a 19th-century castle fire and the ever-present risk of being accidentally knocked over by a clumsy passerby!