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Monday, 20th July 2009 (916 views)

A number of gold items are among those that have gone back on display at the LA Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem after being stolen over 25 years ago.

The collection of rare clocks included a gold pocket watch known as the Marie Antoinette by famous clockmaker Abraham Louis Breguet, as well as a gold pistol clock measuring 11 cm long that was made in France at the start of the 19th century.

A number of exquisitely decorated gold musical snuff boxes were also among the items stolen in 1983. About 55 of the pieces in the collection were made by Breguet, of whose work Marie-Antoinette is said to have been an ardent admirer.

Now visitors can view the more than 100 clocks and timepieces that have been recovered since the theft at the Mystery of Lost Time exhibition from tomorrow (July 21st).

"It's a miracle. I never thought I would see the missing pieces again," Rachel Hasson, artistic director at the LA Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, told the Jerusalem Post.

She added: "It hardly ever happens that, after 25 years, a stolen collection is found and is returned to its home."

 

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