Getting a request
It all started with a job request. My family is known for being in the art market, as some mafia families are. People come to us frequently now. We get jobs for soon to be stolen work, this job was no different. All he wanted was for us to steal a little pocket sized box.
The box is worth quite a bit. When we priced it we found that it has a history of being owned by people associated with the British Royal Court. It was also made by a sought after French goldsmith, Jean Ducrollay. On top of these factors it is made from enamel on gold, has painted still lives, and hundreds of diamonds. We priced it at $300,000 for our buyer.
Location
The snuffbox is located at the Taft Museum Of Art. This museum is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The location was previously a historic house that has been transformed to a museum space.
This box is kept in Taft’s “Tiny Treasures” exhibit. This is a little room that doesn’t have many objects in it. Therefore, security was minimal. The issue came when we learned the box was locked behind glass. I had to find a way into the museum that would allow me behind the glass.
So I got a Job
To avoid the complexity of planning a break in, it seemed easiest for me to get a job with the museum. I had been hoping my family would let me take part in some of the art world crime. For that reason I have been slowly training to become a museum technician. This position allows me to get up close to objects and take them from the exhibits to clean.
Once I had the job I had to build some credibility. I worked hard, laughed at jokes, and cleaned everything perfectly. Soon enough, they loved me and I was allowed to work on anything. Now, I could begin the theft. Let the fun begin…
Finally! The theft!
I told my coworkers I was going to spend the next few days working on objects from Tiny Treasures. To avoid suspicion when the box got stolen, I picked 9 other objects to clean from the exhibit. After the museum closed for the night I moved the objects into the conservation lab to start working on them the next morning. I went home, and when I came back the next day, the box and others were gone.
Really, I took the box home with me the previous night. I made it easy for my brothers, all they had to do was stage a break in. This means it was quicker for them. The pocket sized snuff box fit perfectly in my jacket pocket, and was easy to transfer to a purse prior to leaving. The box went home with me that night. My family snuck into the museum, straight into the onsite conservation lab. They tossed things around, made a mess of things, and took 2 other objects so it wasn’t only the snuffbox that was stolen.
The End
It was all too easy. We had the box in our hands, and my family was able to sell it to the buyer immediately after the theft. I went back to work the next day and reported the crime. No one ever suspected a thing…
Works Cited
Decorating the Taft Galleries. Taft Museum of Art, https://www.taftmuseum.org/media/xdwfxa pm/taft_interiors_guide_final_low_res.pdf.
Fennelly, Lawrence J. Museum, Archive, and Library Security. Edited by Lawrence J. Fennelly, Butterworths, 1983. Accessed 16 March 2025. https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/978 0409950588/museum-archive-and-library-security#book-description
Lily, Elkwood. “The Inside Job: Who is Protecting Art Museums from Themselves?” Center for Art Law, 2024, https://itsartlaw.org/2024/02/15/the-inside-job-who-is-protecting-art-museums -from-themselves/.
Milanick, Margaret. “An Eighteenth-Century French Snuffbox as an Object of Social Status.” MVSE, vol. 43, 2009, pp. 47-69. https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/h andle/10355/83658/muse2009v43p47-67.pdf?sequence=1
Nicita, Antonio. “The Economics of Art Thefts: Too Much Screaming over Munch’s The Scream?” Economic Papers, vol. 28, no. 4, 2009, https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libproxy.nau.edu/doi/pdfdirect/10. 1111/j.1759-3441.2010.00045.x.
“Snuffbox.” The MET, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/206408.
Spiel, Robert E. Art Theft and Forgery Investigation: The Complete Field Manual. Charles C. Thomas, 2000. Accessed 16 March 2025. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr= &id=NlScCQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=art+theft&ots=_jPqoIXh91&sig=DqSBWQreAikSX7I0Joa5fa1CJqk#v=onepage&q=art%20theft&f=false
Staff, NPR. “The Theft That Made The ‘Mona Lisa’ A Masterpiece.” NPR, 2011, https://www.n pr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece.
“Taft Museum of Art Installs Art Sentry in Museum and Period Rooms.” Art Sentry, https://www.artse ntry.com/blog/art-security-museum-taft-renovation/.