The Elephant Parade concluded its tour of London with a series of auctions at the end of last week with a number of stars including Liz Hurley, Andrea Corr and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie turning out with an eye to buying one of the 258 expertly decorated sculptures.
Auctions were held for the benefit of the Asian elephant, the numbers of which are falling in the wild. Some of the celebrities appearing at the sale are intimately involved in the charity - notably film star Goldie Hawn.
The priciest pachyderm was one painted by Scottish artist Jack Vettriano - an increasingly powerful name in the art world - who professed astonishment when 'his' elephant sold for £155,000. The decoration was based on his Singing Butler painting.
Previously, The Emerald Queen by Sabine Roemer had sold for £150,000. In total, the auctions have so far raised £1.8m, and some of the elephants are still available online.
A few days before the auctions began, Bharti Kher's sculpture of an elephant laid low named The Skin Speaks a Language not its Own sold for £993,250 - a world record price for a female Indian contemporary artist.
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