If you live in an old house, don’t overlook what could be hiding in plain sight in your backyard. A bronze statue topped a fountain in the backyard of a European castle for at least 300 years. Last year, Christies’s did an appraisal at the castle and spotted the bronze. It is an unrecorded signed piece by an important Dutch sculptor, Adriaen de Vries, and dates from 1626. It is expected to sell for $8 million to $11 million at a July 7 Christie’s auction in London.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2011