Should Highland Council sell Bouchardon bust of Sir John Gordon?

Is it an important work of art which should never leave these shores or a once-in-a-lifetime windfall that could change the fortunes of a Highland town? The 1728 marble bust by French sculptor Edme Bouchardon was bought by a town council for £5 in 1931, then rediscovered in a shed in 1998, being used as a doorstop. Now, following an online public consultation, the Black Isle and Easter Ross committee have recommended Highland Council agree to the sale of the bust of Sir John Gordon, who gave his name to Invergordon. Committee member, Councillor Maxine Smith, discovered the bust in the Will Bouchardon bust of Sir John Gordon be sold? It briefly went on display at Invergordon Museum, as well as the Louvre, which has other Edme Bouchardon artefacts, and the J Paul Getty Museum.

“Over the years it went up in value, until it was over £1 million,” said Maxine. “At that point, I said, it’s doing us no good whatsoever in storage, why don’t we try to sell it? “We can’t put it on locally, we can’t afford the insurance, and it’s not going to raise us any money. “To me, if you’ve got an asset, you want to see something from it.

I’m not sure what joy we are getting out of the bust when most people didn’t know it existed and we can’t see it.” The bust is an asset of Invergordon Common Good Fund. Bouchardon bust of Sir John Gordon could have a replica made Maxine said a replica, by a well-known artist, could be worth around £200,000 which would increase over.