01:24Germany: Putin figurine signing Crimea into Federation sells for €30,000 at auction
A mechanical figurine of Russian President Vladimir Putin signing the papers that made Crimea an official part of the Russian Federation went to auction in Cologne, Saturday, fetching €30,000 ($37,568) on the lot.
The model entitled 'Putin the Writer' is 20 inch (51cm) tall and features the Russian President sitting at oil-lit rosewood writing desk. Moving its head from side to side, the Putin figurine first reads and then signs the Treaty of Acceptance of the Republic of Crimea Into the Russian Federation. Putin sealed the treaty in March, after close to 97 percent of Crimeans voted for reunification with Russia in the referendum.
The model's creator, Swiss puppet maker Christian Bailly, is infamous for his fiendishly complex mechanical designs and has sold his previous models for up to $6 million (€5 million). Put on sale by German auction house Auction Team Breker, the company's director Uwe Breker stated a wealthy Muscovite had bought the lot and would put it on show at a brand new museum in the Russian capital next year.
01:24A mechanical figurine of Russian President Vladimir Putin signing the papers that made Crimea an official part of the Russian Federation went to auction in Cologne, Saturday, fetching €30,000 ($37,568) on the lot.
The model entitled 'Putin the Writer' is 20 inch (51cm) tall and features the Russian President sitting at oil-lit rosewood writing desk. Moving its head from side to side, the Putin figurine first reads and then signs the Treaty of Acceptance of the Republic of Crimea Into the Russian Federation. Putin sealed the treaty in March, after close to 97 percent of Crimeans voted for reunification with Russia in the referendum.
The model's creator, Swiss puppet maker Christian Bailly, is infamous for his fiendishly complex mechanical designs and has sold his previous models for up to $6 million (€5 million). Put on sale by German auction house Auction Team Breker, the company's director Uwe Breker stated a wealthy Muscovite had bought the lot and would put it on show at a brand new museum in the Russian capital next year.