Toilet case: a man stole a $6 million gold toilet

39-year-old Englishman James Sheen stole an 2019-karat gold toilet in September 18. The item, called "America," was an art installation at an art exhibition, reports USAToday.

Photo: iStock.com/Bet_Noire

A toilet made of 18-karat gold weighing about 100 kg, whose value is estimated at almost $6 million, hit the pages of the world press long before its theft.

In 2016, a work by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan was installed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. 100 thousand people stood in line to use it. To use the toilet for its intended purpose, you had to make an appointment in advance.

Everyone who wanted it had it at their disposal for three minutes, reports with the BBC.

For Cattelan’s first solo exhibition in Great Britain in 20 years, the toilet was transported to Blenheim Palace, the ancestral residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, in the English county of Oxfordshire, to the room opposite the one where Winston Churchill was born in 1874.

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The toilet was connected to the palace's sewer system and its theft caused significant damage as a result of the resulting flooding.

The police who arrived on call could only ascertain the disappearance of a valuable art object and the presence of spilled sewage slurry in the place where it was located.

The kidnappers were believed to have left with their loot in two cars.

Experienced thief

Sheen was charged with burglary, conspiracy and handling stolen goods, and the man pleaded guilty to the charges on April 2. He is already serving a 17-year sentence for numerous thefts, including burglaries from ATMs. It is unclear how much additional time he could face behind bars as a result of his guilty plea.

Three other men were arrested in connection with the theft of the gold toilet: Michael Jones, 38, Fred Dow, 35, and Bora Gukchuk, 39. They have pleaded not guilty and will appear in court on February 24, 2025.

Banana for $100

Cattelan also created another sensational work - a banana attached with electrical tape to the wall. It appeared on the Internet at the Art Basel exhibition in Miami in 2019.

The cost of this item exceeds $100. Artist David Datuna ate a banana in 000 at an exhibition in Miami.

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“I love Maurizio Cattelan’s work and I really like this installation,” he later wrote. - This is delicious".

Last year, a version of the work was exhibited at the Leum Art Museum in Seoul.

The student, supposedly an art student, ate a banana because he skipped breakfast and was hungry.

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