The Lion Sweeps Tonight

Lioness Demon, c. 2900 BC — Photo: Sotheby's

I don't generally dwell on the ups and downs of the art market, but the Wednesday night antiquities auction at Sotheby's in New York has produced one pretty stunning result. A carved limestone lioness figure dating from between 3000 and 2800 BC was sold to a so far unnamed British bidder for $51 million — $57.16 million when the buyer's premium is thrown in. via. That makes it not only the most costly antiquity ever sold at auction, but also the most expensive work of sculpture. It's just three and a half inches tall, so that comes to about $18 million an inch.

Though it's generally referered to as a demon figure, the carving may also represent Inanna, the Mesopotamian goddess of sexual love and war. And it may actually have been worn as an amulet, so it's probably a stretch to call it sculpture. The piece has been on loan since 1948 to the Brooklyn Museum. The seller was a charitable trust established by the family of Alastair Bradley Martin, a former Brooklyn Museum chairman who bought the little lioness 59 years ago.