Artsy pickled shark sold for $12 million

LONDON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- British art collector Charles Saatchi has reportedly been offered $12 million for a pickled 14-foot-shark he bought for $95,000, The Telegraph said Thursday.

Saatchi commissioned the animal sculpture, called "The Physical Impossibility of Death" in 1991 by artist Damien Hirst, who used a shark bought in Australia for $11,000.

The destination of the shark is not known, but the spokesman confirmed the offer had come from a client of U.S. art dealer Larry Gagosian, who is Hirst's agent in New York.

Last year, Saatchi sold 12 early works by Hirst back to the artist for a reported $15 million. The sale included a sliced pig in formaldehyde called "This Little Piggy Went to Market," done in 1996, and valued at $2.8 million.

More recently he reportedly sold one of his favorite works by Hirst, a sheep in formaldehyde called "Away From the Flock," for $4 million.