Worth more than its weight in gold: Kate Moss yoga statue sells for £577,000 at Sotheby’s
- Precious metals in sculpture worth £200,000 alone
An 18-carat gold statue of Kate Moss in a provocative yoga pose has sold for £577,250 at Sotheby's.
Mircrocosmos (Siren) was sold to an anonymous Asian telephone bidder.
The provocative statue - which features the supermodel posing with her legs behind her back, is a smaller 10kg version of Marc Quinn's 50kg Siren, also created in 2008.
The statue of Kate Moss, called Mircrocosmos (Siren), was sold to an anonymous Asian telephone bidder for £577,250
That statue cost £1.5million to make - of which £1million was just the price of the gold.
The smaller Microcosmos (Siren) which is one of four identical pieces will have cost about £200,000 just for the gold. It was part of a private collection.
Explaining the name, Quinn said 'It's called Siren, because in a sense it represents everything that lures people to wreck themselves on the rocks: money, perfection, unattainable images – all these things.'
Dubbed a 'modern day Aphrodite' the original golden supermodel statue is the largest gold statue made by man since ancient Egyptian times.
Marc Quinn, also created a life-size 50kg version of the statue called Siren (pictured), that version went on display at the British Museum
The piece is hollow, and is understood to weigh the same as Moss herself. It is a variation of Quinn's 2006 piece, Sphinx, which featured Moss in the same pose but this time made of cast bronze, with a white-painted finish.
The model enjoyed posing for the artist and approved of the final result.
Quinn said: 'When I showed Kate the statue she told me she loved it.
'She really liked the idea and she modelled for me for a day or so.'
But he added: 'She didn't pose for me like that.'
Model behaviour: Kate Moss pictured in Gloucester over the weekend
It was modelled by a more experienced woman yoga practitioner, however, the body, hands, and feet are based on Moss' exact measurements.
Siren was displayed at the British Museum shortly after being revealed to the public as part of the Statuephilia exhibition in the Nereid Gallery among statues of classical Greek goddesses including Aphrodite.
Controversial artist Quinn's most famous work is Alison Lapper Pregnant which was displayed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. It depicted pregnant disabled artist Alison Lapper naked.
The sculptor's bust self-portrait, which is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, was made using eight pints of his own blood.
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