Led Zeppelin’s ‘Object’ Statue Sells For $500 on eBay

Led Zeppelin fans looking to own their own piece of the band's history, in the form of the unique twisted black sculpture featured on the art for their 1976 album 'Presence,' can do so on eBay, provided, that is, that they're ready to spend a healthy amount of money.

Of course, Ebay is the ultimate online destination to track down some of the coolest rock memorabilia, such as the famous 'Object' statue. The band produced 1000 of these statues to use for promotional purposes when the album was released.

The album art was designed by renowned artist Storm Thorgerson, who in addition to his work with Zeppelin, you’d also recognize classic album covers he’s done for Pink Floyd and, uh, The Cranberries. (Hey, that album cover probably helped to cover the mortgage for the month…and a man’s gotta eat, right?)

The story behind the production of  the 'Object' statues is pretty cool – they were produced initially so that they could photograph them for the black and white inner sleeves. According to Zeppelin Collectibles, the band then contracted Alva Museum Graphics to produce 1000 of them for use in promotion of the album. The 12” tall black objects were all individually numbered with distinctive lettered printed on four sides of the base, including the text “Led Zeppelin” and “Presence.”

From time to time, they pop up on Ebay for sale – here’s one that sold recently for 500 bucks! Of course, there were also bootleg versions that quickly popped up and they’re still being produced and sold on Ebay today. The originals came packaged in brown cardboard boxes, with white stickers on the sides of the box identifying them as the 'Object,' and adding copyright information for their label, Swan Song Records.

Telling the real ones from the fakes is, of course, something that requires a jeweler’s eye for specific details, but this site has a pretty good rundown on what you should look for.

The Members Of Led Zeppelin Explain the 'Object'