A “very valuable” bronze sculpture worth £60,000 has been stolen from the garden of a world-renowned artist who said she was “upset” at the lack of progress in the investigation.
Anne Curry told the PA news agency she returned home from a funeral service on the evening of December 6 2024 to find that one of her artworks called La Promesse – an imposing bronze sculpture of an iris flower weighing about 350kg – had vanished from her garden in Arkesden, Saffron Walden, Essex.
The 82-year-old artist, who is famous for her garden sculptures and portraits, including a bronze bust of Sir John Major that she made for the House of Commons, said she immediately reported the theft to the police.
But nearly a month after the crime, the artist said she was “upset” at the lack of progress in her case as no arrests have been made.
The person who stole that one had been in the garden and systematically knocked on the sculptures to see which one was in bronze
She said of the theft: “It’s just unbelievable, it’s extraordinary.
“I had been away for the day because of a funeral in Warwick and I returned in the evening to see the sculpture had gone. It had obviously happened in the night.”
She added about the perpetrator or perpetrators: “They obviously had visited the site before.
“I have 15 to 20 sculptures in this garden, and almost all of them are resins because it’s safer for theft, and it’s safer to transport.
“The person who stole that one had been in the garden and systematically knocked on the sculptures to see which one was in bronze.”
Ms Curry, who was formerly married to ex-Conservative MP David Curry, said no officer from Essex Police visited her home until three weeks after the crime had taken place, accusing the force of “extraordinary inefficiency”.
She added the incident has affected her sense of security in her own home, saying: “There’s a feeling of hidden threat.
“When you live in a village you love, you don’t think of that, you don’t think of the environment as threatening, and it’s very upsetting to discover that there is a threat.”
I do not underestimate the impact this theft has had on the victim, and we will work determinedly to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry
Essex Police released a witness appeal on Saturday urging anyone with relevant information to contact the detectives in the case.
Pc Glenn Simons, who is investigating the theft, said: “I do not underestimate the impact this theft has had on the victim, and we will work determinedly to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry.”
But nearly a month after the disappearance of her artwork, which was inspired by the seed pod of an iris foetidissima, Ms Curry said she has little hope of ever seeing it return to her garden.
She explained: “What people do not realise is that a bronze sculpture is not stolen for its beauty, it is stolen for the bronze which is taken immediately to a scrap merchant, cut up, and sold up, because the bronze is very valuable.
“When something like this is happening, the police need to be on it quickly.”
She added that La Promesse was “very valuable”, having cost her £20,000 to cast and having a market value of £60,000 – but she also cherished it as her personal artwork.
“It’s one of my most successful pieces,” she said.
“I’m very attached to it.”
Essex Police has urged anyone who may have information about any suspicious vehicles or suspicious behaviour in the Arkesden area on the evening of December 5 and the early hours of December 6 to get in touch.
The force defended its investigation, with a spokesman telling the PA news agency that officers had made “four efforts to contact Dr Curry to arrange a visit throughout December, which had unfortunately gone unanswered”.
He said it was “accurate” to say Dr Curry was not visited until December 27.
