unusual objects sold at auction in 2018

3,000-year-old Assyrian sculpture

A rare, 3,000-year-old sculpture fetched $31 million at Christie’s New York in October, breaking the world record for Assyrian art and tripling its pre-sale estimate of $10 million. The solid slab of gypsum, excavated in the 19th century in present-day Iraq, depicts a deity resembling King Ashurnasirpal II.