Hard-up councils’ £27m raid on art treasures as fresh cash crisis looms
TOWN hall chiefs have raided their collections of valuable art and historic treasures to raise £27million after a decade of funding austerity.
Paintings by Picasso and LS Lowry, Ming vases and ancient Egyptian treasures are among 2,280 pieces of publicly-owned exhibits that have been sold to pay for new libraries and residential care homes.
The sales, uncovered by hundreds of freedom of information requests, reveal that rare paintings, sculptures and artefacts worth more than £27million from 70 per cent of Britain’s 408 councils have been sold since 2009.
The largest individual sale, by Northampton Borough Council in 2014, was an Egyptian limestone statue called Sekhemka, dating from 2450-2300BC.
It broke the world record for ancient Egyptian art sold at auction when it was bought by a private collector in America for £15.8million – although only £7.7million was received by the council.
The sale saw Northampton Museum stripped of its Arts
By Paul Jeeves
Council England accreditation, which can give local authorities access to funds for the arts.
Croydon Council, in south London, was also stripped of its Arts Council accreditation after it sold 24 pieces of Chinese porcelain, donated to the council in 1959.
The sale raised £8million at auction in Hong Kong in 2013. A Ming dynasty moon flask was the most expensive item, going for £2.2million.
And a Lowry painting called A Market Place, Berwickupon-Tweed, was sold by Cambridgeshire County Council for £542,250 in 2009.