The statue dates from the 5th dynasty (c. 2494–2345 BC, making it slightly older than Stonehenge) and depicts Sekhemka the scribe with his wife, Sitmerit.

[3] The statue depicts Sekhemka sitting in a traditional scribal pose and holding on his knees a partly unrolled papyrus which lists various offerings.

[4] Archaeologist Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology, took many detailed colour photographs of the statue whilst it was on display in Christie's prior to auction and has published them on his own blog.

[7] Northampton Borough Council claimed that they learned the full value of the Sekhemka statue in 2012 during an insurance assessment, and according to The Daily Telegraph it "immediately began making plans to cash it in and use the money for other heritage projects in the region.

"[8] The then leader of Northampton Borough Council, David Mackintosh, told the BBC that the statue had "been in our ownership for over 100 years and it's never really been the centrepiece of our collection", and that "We want to expand our museum and to do that we need to raise the money".

[9] The council proposed to use the amount realized through a sale for funding "the restoration of Delapré Abbey, improvements to the museum service and/or other cultural or heritage projects" but the Museum Association asked that proposed sale be halted pending consultation which "was needed to establish the financially motivated disposal was 'last resort'"[10] The council stated that when the statue was valued in 2010 it was taken off display because of security concerns, and that it would have required 24-hour guarding.

[19] The Northampton Chronicle and Echo carried out a Facebook poll in June 2014, and found that the majority wanted to keep the statue.

However, the BBC reported that, following negotiations lasting a year, he struck a private deal with the council which resulted in him receiving £6 million from the sale.

Minister Mamdouh Al-Damati condemned the sale as being incompatible with the values and role of museums worldwide which should spread culture rather than seeking to earn money.

"[25] The day before the sale was scheduled to take place the estate office of the Marquess of Northampton's Castle Ashby caught fire leading to stories about the "Curse Of Sekhemka".

[2] The Save Sekhemka Action group described the sale as a "day of shame for Northampton", and said that selling the statue had been "the decision of one man [council leader David Mackintosh], taken against all professional advice locally, nationally and internationally"[21] The sale was described by the Egyptian Embassy as a "shameful and unethical act".

[16] Scott Furlong, of Arts Council England, said: "It is very disappointing that the local authority committed to the sale and entered into an agreement with an auction house before our discussions with them were concluded.

[32] In September 2014, the Friends of Northampton Museums and Art Gallery decided to disband after 55 years' financial and practical service to the town.

[33] On 30 March 2015, British culture minister Ed Vaizey placed a four-month temporary export ban on the statue, which had been sold to an unidentified overseas buyer,[34] rumoured to be American.

"[35] On 2 October 2015, Vaizey extended the export ban until 29 March 2016, after hearing of a serious bid to raise funds to save the statue for the UK.

[38] On 21 April 2015 the Save Sekhemka Action Group said that they think that a condition of the original Deed of Gift was that the statue should never be sold, making the auction illegal.