THE ARCHIVE BY COUNTRY
Published reports from our archive, newest first.
A country may refer to the theft, recovery, return or legal proceedings. A case can be linked to more than one country.
4 reports
Sweden’s National Museums of World Culture announced the transfer of ownership of 39 Benin objects to Nigeria’s NCMM, signed in Lagos on 5 November. The objects derive from the 1897 British looting. Six will remain in Sweden on a ten-year loan, so the announcement does not mean all 39 physically returned.
SVT’s timeline records the 2018 theft of crowns and an orb, their recovery in 2019, and their return to public display in June 2020 after restoration.
The affected Stockholm gallery and Salvador Dalí; SVT/TT report image. Image source ↗
Thieves smashed the glass doors of Couleur gallery in Stockholm and stole Salvador Dalí bronzes and etchings. About ten works, on loan from Switzerland, were in the exhibition; police did not give an exact stolen-item count in this report. The source reported no recovery at publication.
Cathedral regalia: the two crowns at the top and the central orb were stolen; other pictured objects were not part of this theft. Cathedral/Police via Sveriges Radio. Image source ↗
Two gold funeral crowns and an orb associated with King Karl IX and Queen Kristina were stolen from Strängnäs Cathedral on 31 July 2018. The seventeenth-century regalia had been kept in a locked, alarmed display case. Sveriges Radio quoted police during the search. This is the initial theft report; the later return is recorded separately.
