Le Monde | • Updated | By
The Castle of Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne), located sixty kilometers from Paris, was burglarized Sunday, 1 March, shortly before six in the morning. Fifteen Oriental works from Thailand and China, were stolen in the Chinese museum located on the ground floor, facing south, in front of the carp pond. The criminals broke. The operation lasted seven minutes until the alarm goes off in this place which is one of the most secure of the former royal residence, with alarms and surveillance cameras.
The package was held in three Chinese living rooms built in 1863 by the Empress Eugenie, who had chosen the decoration, until drawing herself furniture. “An area often closed to the public, very intimate and very atypical, with its large gold lacquered screens,” states at the World , Jean-François Hébert, President of the public institution.
Three windows were broken. Disappeared replica of the crown of the king of Siam, enamel on the round of filigree gold, offered to Napoleon III in 1861 by an embassy official visit of Siam; a Tibetan mandala coral, gold and turquoise; Chinese cloisonné enamel chimera of the reign of Qianlong (1736-1795); vases and a silver plate in particular. High quality objects, priceless.
” These are probably very professional people who knew the place and the closure system. On leaving, they all sprayed with a fire extinguisher to remove all traces. They calculated their shot, they knew very well what objects they coveted “ says Jean-François Hébert. The Central fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property was alerted. The judicial police Melun is responsible for the investigation.
“This is a terrible trauma for the castle, there is hope that one day these pieces back on the market,” says Mr. Hébert. The previous flight castle dates from 1995. Fifteen stolen items, nine were found to date.
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