Three men have been charged with stealing a golden throne by Maurizio Cattelan from Blenheim Palace in England in 2019, a prosecuting lawyer said earlier this week. One man involved with the crime had previously pleaded guilty to burglary.
The raid, which includes dismantling the working 18-carat, 103 kilogram gold toilet, titled America (2016), took only five minutes. Ensured for approximately $6 million, the piece was featured in an exhibition of the artist’s work at the 18th-century castle and family home of Winston Churchill.
“The burglary was carefully planned and swiftly carried out. The men, five of them it appears, drove through locked wooden gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace shortly before 5am in two stolen vehicles, an Isuzu truck and a VW Golf. All in all they spent just five minutes in the building. Clearly such an audacious raid would not have been possible without lots of preparation,” Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said.
Michael Jones is currently standing trial at Oxford Crown Court. He was charged with one count of burglary to which he has pleaded not guilty. Fred Doe and Bora Guccuk were both charged with one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property, which they have denied. James Sheen, a builder who employed Jones, previously pleaded guilty to burglary.
Ahead of the theft, Jones allegedly visited Blenheim Palace twice—once prior to being on display and again after the toilet was installed. The toilet has not been recovered.
It appears the piece was separated into smaller parts that could be more easily sold. Two of the men reportedly made contact with a jeweler in London’s Hatton Garden district, the Art Newspaper reported.
The toilet was installed in the guides’ bathrooms at the palace, but visitors were allowed to book time slots to use the toilet. Prior to this show, it was on view at New York’s Guggenheim Museum since September 2016.
“‘America’ was the one percent for the 99 percent, and I hope it still is. I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action,” Cattelan told the New York Times when the piece was first taken.
The artwork was modeled after a common Kohler toilet and made by a foundry in Florence, Italy.
