An Essex artist is heartbroken after her valuable bronze sculpture was stolen from her garden just before Christmas
Essex: An artist in Essex is feeling pretty down after someone stole her prized bronze sculpture right before Christmas. The piece, called La Promesse, is worth about £60,000 and was taken from her garden.
Anne Curry, the artist, returned home from a funeral on December 6 to find her sculpture missing. It’s a big piece shaped like an iris flower and weighs around 350kg. Can you believe that?
At 82 years old, Anne is worried she might never see her beloved sculpture again. She thinks it was taken because of the high value of bronze. Essex Police are on the case and have put out an appeal for information.
Anne, who used to be married to a former Conservative MP, has made some notable pieces, including a bust of Sir John Major that’s in the House of Commons. She mentioned that it seemed like the thief had scoped out her garden beforehand.
She has about 15 to 20 sculptures in her garden, mostly made of resin because they’re safer from theft. But the thief knew what they were doing and targeted the bronze piece. It’s sad to think that someone would steal art just for the metal.
Anne shared that La Promesse wasn’t just valuable in terms of money; it meant a lot to her personally. She spent £20,000 to cast it, and it’s one of her most successful works. Losing it has really shaken her sense of security at home.
She said, “When you live in a village you love, you don’t think of it as a threatening place.” It’s tough to realize that there are dangers lurking around. PC Glenn Simons, who’s looking into the theft, understands how much this has affected her and is determined to find out what happened.
After reporting the theft, Anne was visited by police, but there were some communication hiccups. Essex Police are asking anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Arkesden area on the night of December 5 or early December 6 to reach out.
