A 3,300-year-old sculpture of Tutankhamun has sold at auction for more than £4.7m - despite Egypt's demands for it to be returned.

The brown quartzite head depicting Egypt's most famous pharaoh was purchased by an unnamed buyer, Christie's said on Thursday.

The British auction house said the sculpture offered a "remarkable representation" of the famous boy king, with “superbly modelled facial features”.

The 28.5cm-high piece, with damage only to the ears and nose, was sold from the private Resandro collection of Egyptian art.

"The flesh, the eyes, the lips, are extremely naturalistic, there is no stylisation," Christie's antiquities specialist Laetitia Delaloye said.


Christie's said the sculpture was acquired from Munich dealer Heinz Herzer in 1985. Before that, Austrian dealer Joseph Messina bought it in 1973-1974.

Germany's Wilhelm Von Thurn und Taxis is understood to have had it in his collection by the 1960s.

Image: Egypt has long demanded the return of artefacts that have been taken from the country

Outside the auction house, about 20 protesters stood silently and held placards that said "Egyptian history is not for sale".

Egypt has long demanded the return of artefacts that have been taken from the country.

"We are against our heritage and valuable items (being) sold like vegetables and fruit," said Ibrahim Radi, a 69-year-old Egyptian graphic designer protesting outside Christie's.

Before the auction, Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said he was disappointed the sale was going ahead, despite requests for information and protests from government officials and Egypt's embassy.

Vowing that Cairo would continue to urge the buyer for the work to be returned, Mr Waziri said: "I believe that it was taken out of Egypt illegally... They have not presented any documents to prove otherwise."

Following Thursday's sale, Christie's told Sky News: "This was a rare, beautiful and important work.

"We recognise that historic objects can raise complex discussions about the past; yet our role today is to work to continue to provide a transparent, legitimate marketplace upholding the highest standards for the transfer of objects.

"There is an honourable market for ancient art and we believe it is in the public interest that works come out into the open with the opportunity for them to be researched, as well as seen and enjoyed by global audiences."