Golden toilet from Churchill's birthplace: Perpetrator convicted!

Golden toilet from Churchill's birthplace: Perpetrator convicted!

On June 13, 2025, two men were reported on the punishments, which were sentenced to the theft of a golden toilet, known as "America", from the Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The value of the toilet, which was made of 18-carat gold and fully functional, amounted to over $ 6 million. Kleine Zeitung notes that the judge explained that the property had never reappeared.

Theft, which took place in September 2019, enabled five burglars to enter the manor house. These hit a window and separated the toilet from the pipes with a shelter. The main perpetrator, James Sheen, a 40-year-old roofer, finally owed himself and was sentenced to four years in prison. His accomplice, 39-year-old Michael Jones, received a penalty of two years and three months. Chicago Sun-Times reports of the details of the procedure and the extent of the theft.

artistic meaning and history of the toilet

The toilet was created by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was a central object of an exhibition in Blenheim Palace. It had been installed only two days before the theft and allowed visitors to use it for a maximum of three minutes. Previously, she had been seen in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. The toilet, which overlooked Churchill's birth room, weighed more than £ 215 and was worth more than their weight in gold.

The investigators suspect that the stolen toilet was either dismantled or melted, which reminded of a similar incident that occurred in 2017 when a 100 kilogram gold coin was stolen from the Berlin Bode Museum. These comparable thefts raise questions about the security of works of art and their value. Peter Lang offers extensive insights into current topics of art crime.