Open season at the V&A

THIEVES have raided the Victoria and Albert Museum, forcing the closure of its world-renowned ceramics galleries, only days after The Times revealed serious security concerns.

Fifteen 18th-century Meissen figures were stolen yesterday during museum opening hours. The thieves levered up a glass cabinet in the afternoon and helped themselves. The thefts, the second within two months, astonished Will Geddes, a security expert, because he had given warning of security lapses only last week in The Times.

Commissioned by an adviser to the National Trust and English Heritage, he had conducted a survey of the V&A’s security after the theft of Chinese jade antiquities from the same ceramics galleries on October 4. He had found unlocked fire exits, open access to electrical controls and a shortage of guards only weeks after the previous theft.

From the Times. The previous Times report mentioned above is here; it contains the following quote:

Peter Osborne, former museums security adviser for Britain’s national collections, estimates that 500 objects are stolen each year from public collections, but said that museums had been reluctant to spend money on security.

Acquisitions budgets may be tight, but what's the point in acquiring if the stuff's just being walked out the door? I would think that hiring more guards would be a popular move, given the government's push for museums to be more socially aware in other respects. This recent rash of brazen daylight thefts in London's most prominent museums is a scandal; what changes will result remains to be seen.

Posted by David on November 25, 2004 8:09 PM