Auction horror of the week
September 18 2012
Picture: Mullocks Auctioneers
Ghastly, ghastly. But which is worse - the fact that there is a demand for this sort of thing (the estimate is £2,000-£3,000), or that auctioneers are prepared to cash in on it?
Update - isn't it a fake?
Update II - a reader writes:
I have been watching Alistair Sooke's Roman art series (Treasures of Rome) and found it both stimulating, educational and visually stunning, opening an area of art history I know little of - and in it have seen sculpted images of characters besides whom Himmler is an amateur in the cruelty stakes apparently. Which auction house would not handle an ancient bust of Caligula? And would you condemn them for doing so?
Nope. But then Caligula's victims, their children and grandchildren, aren't still alive.
The Sooke series is really excellent - catch it on iPlayer if you haven't seen it.
Update III - a reader writes:
Caligula may be a slightly ropey counter-offensive, but what about Maoist/Stalinist items?
