ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS (THEFTS)

HC Deb 10 May 1962 vol 659 cc70-2W

Q1. Mr. Hector Hughes

asked the Prime Minister how many and which national treasures in the custody of art galleries and museums under governmental control have been stolen during the last twenty years; how many were recovered; what was the value of each; what was the cost of steps taken for their recovery; and what was the loss to the nation caused thereby.

The Prime Minister

Thirty-six objects worth £25 or more have been stolen in the last twenty years from the fourteen national institutions in London and Edinburgh. They had a total value of nearly £170,000, of which £140,000 represents the value of Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington.

Following are the details:

OBJECTS WORTH £25 OR MORE STOLEN FROM THE NATIONAL COLLECTIONS IN THE PERIOD 1942–1962
Collection	Detail of Thefts
Items stolen	Description	Value	Whether recovered	*Cost of recovery	Loss to Nation
£		£	£
British Museum	8	1. Copy of 1st edition of "Marseilles."	1,500	Yes	Nil	—
		2. Book "Collection of French Army Uniforms, 1781–1814."	50	Yes	Nil	—
		3. Pack of playing cards	100	Yes	Nil	—
		4. South Arabian figure	100	Yes	Nil	—
		5. 12 Assyrian sculptures	480	No	Nil	1,397
		6. Eye from lion's head	40	No	Nil	—
		7. 6 Greek vases	777	No	Nil	—
		8. Roman relief of Eros	100	No	Nil	—
British Museum (Natural History).	2	1. Collection of beetles	720	Yes	Nil	200
	2. 17 books	200	No	—	—
Science Museum	5	1. Leica camera	50	No	Nil	500
		2. Models of locomotives,	375
		3. etc.
		4.
		5. Gold chemical apparatus	75
Victoria and Albert Museum.	12	1. 2 jewelled swords.	1,250	No	—	—
	2. 6 oil paintings	400	5 recovered	—	—
		3. 2 drawings by Daumier	1,500	No	Nil	2,945
		4. An Indian walking stick	80	No	—	—
		5. A Staffordshire vase	35	No	—	—
Imperial War Museum.	1	An early Sten gun	25	No	Nil	25
National Gallery	1	Portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Goya.	140,000	No	Nil	140,000
National Maritime Museum.	3	1. The Nelson chelengk	10,000	No	Nil	10,185
	2. A Nelson memorial ring	50	Yes
	3. The Vernon gold box	1,000	Yes	185	—
National Portrait Gallery.	1	Self-portrait of John Russell (1745–1806).	100	No	Nil	100
Tate Gallery	2	1. "Jour d'ete" by Berthe Morisot.	10,000	Yes	—	—
		2. Portrait by F. G. Stephens	100	No, but insurance paid†	Nil	Nil
National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland	1	Collection of about 200 coins.	about 300	170 coins	50	100
TOTALS	36	—	169,407	—	235	155,452
There were no thefts from the London Museum, the Royal Scottish Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland, and three minor thefts from the Wallace Collection.
* "Cost of recovery" includes only direct extra costs, e.g. rewards, cost of buying back stolen property on the open market. It would not be possible to calculate the cost of inquiries undertaken by the police and the museum authorities.
† Insured by the Wolverhampton Art Gallery, from whom the portrait was stolen while on loan.