Murni 101 Kg Gold Sitting Cluster Ready To Be Auctioned, Initial Price Of IDR 166 Billion

Gold Sitting Cluster/PHOTO: Channel News Asia

JAKARTA - A pure gold toilet will soon be auctioned in New York at a very fantastic initial price of around 10 million US dollars or Rp166 billion.

This toilet is known as one of the most valuable toilets in the world because it is really made of gold weighing 101 kilograms.

The auction house Sotheby's announced that this toilet is the artwork of Italian artist Maurizio Cattunan and is titled America. Sotheby's described this work as a form of sharp criticism between the relationship between the production of art and the value of an object's commodity or material.

Interestingly, this gold toilet is not just a display. This toilet can really be used like an ordinary toilet. A similar work once became globally famous after being stolen from Blenheim Palace in England in 2019.

At that time, the toilet was installed and connected to the pipeline system so that visitors could use it.

But the toilet that will now be auctioned is another version that an anonymous collector has owned since 2017.

Maurizio Cattana is known as a provocative artist who likes to convey social criticism through his works. One of his most famous works is comedian, which is that bananas are attached to walls with duct tape sold for US$6.2 million or Rp103 billion.

Another work is Hitler's statue kneeling with the title 'Him' sold 17.2 million US dollars or Rp286 billion in 2016.

About this golden toilet, Cattana said the work "America" is a satire of a super luxury lifestyle.

"Whatever you eat, let alone the price is expensive, the final result remains the same in the toilet," said Cattana, quoted from the Channel News Asia page, Saturday, November 1, 2025.

This quote emphasizes that in the end, everyone, rich or poor, still has the same needs and body process.

The 'America' golden toilet will be exhibited starting November 8 at Sotheby's new headquarters in Breuer Building, New York. The toilet will be placed in the bathroom so that visitors can see it closely.

However, unlike the previous exhibition, the toilet cannot be used by visitors. Visitors are only allowed to see, not sit down and of course not water it.

David Galperin, Sotheby's contemporary art chief, said this work raises an important question, what actually gives a work of high value? Is it because of its expensive basic ingredients or because of the ideas and art values behind it?

Unlike the work of a taped banana whose value lies in the concept, this gold toilet has a large real material value. This comparison shows how art can combine physical ideas and values in one object.

The 'America' golden toilet is not only a luxury object, but also a symbol of social criticism and reflection about differences, equality, and the way people judge things. The auction is expected to attract the attention of art collectors and the public from around the world.