A 12th century casket which may have held the remains of the martyr Saint Thomas a Becket was sold at Sotheby's in London to an unknown buyer yesterday for £4,181,500 - almost three times the estimated price.
Despite a flood of donations from the public, the Victoria and Albert Museum failed in its attempt to save the casket for Britain. It was sold to a London dealer, bidding on behalf of an anonymous collector.
An emotional appeal by Dr Alan Borg, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, had raised £3.7 million. But it was not enough.
Tension in the auction room was running high, but as the bidding went over the V&A's £3.6 million ceiling, Dr Borg knew he had lost out.
The gold and blue 12th century casket, which is believed to have held the bones, clothing and a lock of hair from Britain's most famous martyr, had captured the imagination of the public.
Donations included a pledge of £50,000 by Mrs Valerie Eliot, widow of T.S. Eliot, whose play Murder in the Cathedral is based on Thomas a Becket's murder.
The casket is decorated with depictions of the killing. Becket was hacked down in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 on the orders of King Henry II in a power struggle between monarch and church.