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.
79 reports · Page 4 / 4
A posthumous bronze cast stolen in 1991 resurfaced in London and was recovered in 2015. It was offered back to its rightful owner.
Lancelot Thwaytes sued Sotheby’s after it sold his version of The Cardsharps as a copy of Caravaggio. A subsequent owner attributed the work to Caravaggio himself. The High Court held that Sotheby’s had not been negligent in how it assessed the painting. Photo: the disputed version, via Wikimedia Commons.
Pierre Bonnard, La femme aux deux fauteuils, one of the recovered paintings. Image source ↗
Italian authorities revealed the recovery of paintings by Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard stolen in London in the 1970s. The works had passed through a railway lost-property sale and were found in a private purchaser’s home.
Henry Moore’s Standing Figure (Knife Edge) was reported stolen from the open-air sculpture park in Dumfries and Galloway. Photo: Alamy via The Guardian.
Neil Kingsbury pleaded guilty in 2013 to misrepresenting the provenance of Egyptian antiquities. Christie’s withdrew six pieces and contacted authorities after they were linked to Egyptian material. Kingsbury acknowledged previous sales through both Bonhams and Christie’s. Photo: a granite relief fragment linked to the case, via Trafficking Culture.
In Avrora Fine Arts v Christie’s the court held that the painting offered as a work by Boris Kustodiev was not authentic under the auction warranty. Image from the 2005 Christie’s catalogue, which recorded the attribution disputed in court.
Police recovered Moore’s bronze sundial and a bronze plinth after the objects were stolen from the Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire.
Barbara Hepworth, Two Forms (Divided Circle), pictured before the theft. Getty Images, via The Independent. Image source ↗
Londonist reported the December 2011 theft of Barbara Hepworth’s Two Forms (Divided Circle) from Dulwich Park. Southwark Council offered £1,000 for information leading to arrests. Current validity is unconfirmed.
Landscape now attributed to François van Knibbergen; the 2007 release used Jan de Vos I. Image source ↗
Concordia announced the restitution of a landscape sold under Nazi persecution, with assistance from Christie’s. The 2007 release attributed it to Jan de Vos I; the Stern project’s current recovered-works catalogue attributes it to François van Knibbergen.
The fake Amarna Princess. Photograph: Geni / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Resized, uncropped. Image source ↗
Shaun Greenhalgh received four years and eight months in prison, while his mother received a suspended sentence. The forgeries included the Amarna Princess sold to Bolton Museum. His father’s sentencing was deferred for a medical report at publication.
Buccleuch Madonna of the Yarnwinder. Courtesy of the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust / National Galleries of Scotland. Image source ↗
The Buccleuch Madonna of the Yarnwinder was recovered on 4 October 2007 after its 2003 theft from Drumlanrig Castle. The work is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci; the extent of his execution has been debated by scholars.
Iran obtained an injunction in 2005 to stop Christie’s from selling a limestone relief it said had been unlawfully removed from the country. The High Court dismissed Iran’s restitution claim in February 2007. The relief was auctioned in London that October.
The Spoliation Advisory Panel found a strong moral claim by Arthur Feldmann’s heirs to four drawings in the British Museum and recommended a government payment at its discretion.
Jean-Edme Julliot, gold and blue-enamel snuffbox, 1775–1776, W1/34/1. Listed as stolen by Waddesdon Manor; official missing-object list, p. 5. Image source ↗
Burglars took over 100 gold boxes and other precious objects from the Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor on 10 June 2003. This is the original theft report. Later reward information and a partial-return update appear separately in the reward panel.
Vincent van Gogh, The Fortifications of Paris with Houses, Whitworth Art Gallery. CC0. Image source ↗
Works by Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Paul Gauguin were recovered after their theft from the Whitworth. The image shows Van Gogh’s The Fortifications of Paris with Houses, one of the three works.
In its first published case, the Spoliation Advisory Panel examined the wartime loss of Jan Griffier the Elder’s View of Hampton Court Palace. It recommended a discretionary payment and a public account of the painting’s provenance.
