Tutankhamun relic sold for £4.7m in London despite Egyptian protest

A 3,000-year-old quartzite head of Egyptian king Tutankhamun that Egypt claims was stolen has fetched £4.7m ($6m) at auction.

Christie's auction house sold the 28.5-centimetre (11-inch) relic for 4,746,250 pounds ($5,970,000, 5,290,000 euros) at one of its most controversial auctions in years.

No information about the buyer was disclosed.

Egypt has earlier called Christie's to cancel the sale of the relic.

The country's foreign ministry says that the bust was probably stolen from an Egyptian temple during the 1970s.

Christie's says Egypt has not expressed concern about the bust in the past, despite it being exhibited publicly.

The brown quartzite, 28cm (11in) relic comes from a private collection of ancient art that Christie's last sold for £3m in 2016.

Egypt's antiquities ministry said it would hold a special meeting at the start of next week to discuss its next steps in the standoff.

"The Egyptian government will take all the necessary measures to recover Egyptian antiquities that left Egypt illegally," it said in statement.

In a statement, Christie's said: "The object is not, and has not been, the subject of an investigation." The auction house said it would never auction an object over which there were legitimate concerns.

Tutankhamun died over 3,000 years ago aged 19. His remains were found in 1922.