A MARBLE bust that a U.S. woman bought for about US$35 from a store in Texas is temporarily on display at a museum after experts determined it was a centuries-old sculpture missing from Germany since World War II.

The bust, which art collector Laura Young found at Goodwill in 2018, once belonged in the collection of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, according to the San Antonio Museum of Art, which is displaying the piece until it is returned to Germany next year.

Historians believe the ancient Roman bust may depict a son of Pompey the Great, who was defeated in civil war by Julius Caesar, the museum said. The sculpture was last seen in Aschaffenburg, Germany, and experts believe a soldier took the sculpture and brought it to the United States. A Sotheby’s consultant identified the work and it was further authenticated.

“We are very pleased that a piece of Bavarian history that we thought was lost has reappeared and will soon be able to return to its rightful location,” said Bernd Schreiber, president of the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens, and Lakes.

Young said there were a few months of “intense excitement” after learning the history behind the piece, which she found on the floor beneath a table at a Goodwill store in Austin, Texas.

Young reached a deal to return the bust to Germany with the help of an attorney who specializes in international art law. (SD-Agencies)