Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The greatest galleries in the world are going to be exhibiting a door stop… but this is no ordinary door stop.

Edmé Bouchardon's sculpture of Sir John Gordon
Edmé Bouchardon's sculpture of Sir John Gordon

A £1.4million sculpture, which was found propping open a shed door, is setting off on a world tour to some of the greatest galleries on the globe.

The 18th century work of art was lost for many years and rediscovered acting as a humble door stop in the Highlands.

Councillor Maxine Smith, Cromarty Firth, came across the bust of landowner and MP Sir John Gordon – whose family gave their name to Invergordon – holding open a shed door on an industrial estate in the seaboard village of Balintore.

The sculpture, which was created by French artist Edmé Bouchardon in 1728, has since been valued by Sothebys auction house at around £1.4 million.

It is due to go on display at the Louvre, in Paris, taking pride of place alongside world-renowned works of art like da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and Whistler’s Mother.

Sir John’s bust, which is cared for by High Life Highland on behalf of Highland Council, will form part of the gallery’s tribute to Bouchardon, entitled “A Sublime Idea of Beauty”.

And, towards the end of this year, it is due to cross the Atlantic to go on show at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where it will be under the same roof as great paintings by van Gogh, Canaletto, Goya and Titian.

It is due to return to the Highlands in the spring of next year.

Mrs Smith explained that she found the sculpture in 1998 while searching for the robes of the Provost of Invergordon.

She said: “I had been in search of the former provost’s robes and little did I realise how important this doorstop was that was holding open the door.

“The Bouchardon sculpture is now raising the profile of Invergordon, the Highlands and Inverness Museum and Art Gallery in some of the world’s top museums.

“I am delighted that its true identity and value to the art world has been discovered and I am very pleased that a part of Invergordon and Highland heritage is now being toured around the world.”