MAD ANTIQUARY'S THEFTS.

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 184, 3 May 1934, Page 3

MAD ANTIQUARY'S THEFTS.

Rare bronzes have disappeared from several museums in England, and it is believed that the thefts are the work of a mad collector of antiques. His method shows all the cunning of the mentally deranged. First of all, he photographs a rare bronze. Then he has a substitute made so true to detail that even an expert, at first sight, would not suspect the “fake.” Then, with the substitute bronze hidden beneath his coat, the thief enters the museum, waits for n favourable oppor-

tunity, opens the showcase, and quickly exchanges the replica for the genuine bronze. Some thefts have been undiscovered for weeks. By this time detection is almost impossible. The Devises Museum was one of those recently robbed in thin way. An attempt was also made to rob the Winchester City Museum. The thief was disturbed. lie left behind him a reproduction of a rare bronze on top of the showcase in which the real one reposed. As the stolen articles are all of worldwide repute, it is impossible to sell them. But somewhere the mad collector sits, rubbing his hands, gazing rapturously at the rarities he lias stolen, and planning further additions.