Three and a quarter inches of limestone sold for $57.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction last week, a record for any sculpture. The Guennol Lioness, from Iran via Long Island, beat out the previous record holder (some guy named Picasso) by double.

I like the description of the bidder:

The successful bidder, who stood at the back of the saleroom wearing a grey check suit and reading glasses, was described by Sotheby’s as English, and told reporters that he was an archaeologist. However, he was not thought to be bidding for himself.

He he… Ya no. I don’t think it’s likely the nice archaeologist standing in the back with the checked suit and the glasses had 60 million dollars on him either.