Stolen treasure returns home
Avaluable gold box called a French bonbonnière has been recovered and returned to the country mansion it was stolen from 19 years ago.
The box was stolen in 2003 when burglars smashed a window and broke into Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, England. Despite high security, they stole more than 100 gold boxes and other precious objects. The items they stole were mostly 18th century French antiques that were together worth millions of pounds. Most of them have never been seen since.
Last year, one of the small gold boxes turned up at an auction and was identified as one of the stolen treasures. It is now back on display at Waddesdon Manor. A French bonbonnière is a small box for sweets and would have been kept in a pocket or on a bedside table. The recovered box was made in around 1775 in Paris, France, and features gold stars on a dark blue background with a picture of a woman holding roses on its lid.
When it came up for sale at the auction, the bonbonnière was checked against the Art Loss Register, a list of stolen antiques and artworks. Staff at the auction house realised that it was one of the items that had been taken from Waddesdon Manor, so they rang the police. Pippa Shirley, who looks after lots of valuable items at Waddesdon, is delighted to have the box back. “The 2003 theft was deeply traumatic for everyone at Waddesdon,” she said. “This feels like such a positive outcome and gives us hope that the other boxes may yet come back to us.”
Waddesdon Manor was built by politician and banker Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the 19th century as a place to display his art collection and give parties. It is now owned by the National Trust. The stolen collection of gold boxes is very rare and a reward of £50,000 has been offered for its return.