{"id":11486,"date":"2022-06-01T10:32:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T08:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=31481"},"modified":"2022-06-01T10:51:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T08:51:09","slug":"stolen-gold-box-returned-to-waddesdon","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/stolen-gold-box-returned-to-waddesdon\/","title":{"rendered":"Stolen gold box returned to Waddesdon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Molly Malsom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 01 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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In June 2003, a masked gang stole over 100 gold boxes and high-value items from Waddesdon Manor<\/a>, including this French bonbonni\u00e8re featuring a miniature<\/a> of a woman with a basket of roses on its lid. \u2018The 2003 theft was deeply traumatic for everyone at Waddesdon \u2013 I remember it vividly,\u2019 says Pippa Shirley, Director of Collections, Historic Properties and Landscapes at Waddesdon.<\/p>\n

Nineteen years later, most of the stolen items \u2013 mainly 18th-century French and English pieces \u2013 remain missing. However, this particular gold box recently came up for sale at a UK auction house and was subsequently brought to the attention of the Art Loss Register<\/a> (ALR).<\/p>\n

After confirming its identity, the box was returned to its rightful place at a particularly fitting moment; this year Waddesdon celebrates Alice de Rothschild\u2019s contribution to the collections with a series of exhibitions<\/a> called \u2018Alice\u2019s Wonderlands\u2019, and it was Alice herself who acquired the bonbonni\u00e8re.<\/p>\n

The box is now on display at Waddesdon in \u2018A Rothschild Treasury\u2019. \u2018I am absolutely delighted that this box has returned, and very grateful to the Art Loss Register for its part in its successful recovery,\u2019 continues Pippa. \u2018This feels such a positive outcome and gives us hope that the other boxes may yet come back to us.\u2019<\/p>\n