UK: Man pleads guilty to stealing toilet made of 18-carat gold worth $6 million from Blenheim Palace

An unusual artwork of a toilet seat made of gold was stolen from an English stately home back in 2019, and now its burglar pleaded guilty to stealing the same. The toilet titled “America” is made from 18-carat gold and costs more than $6 million. It was first installed at Blenheim Palace in 2019, which is also the birthplace of Winston Churchill.

James Sheen, 39, pleaded guilty to burglary on Tuesday, as reported by UK’s PA Media news agency.

The toilet was designed by an Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, andwas displayed at an exhibition called “Victory is Not an Option” in 2019, and was stolen in September 2019.

The peculiar toilet seat laden with real gold was plumbed into the building, so the theft also caused major damage and flooding, as per the police.

Sheen was already serving his 17-year sentence at Five Wells Prison for various thefts when he appeared in court via video link and pleaded guilty to the charge.

He also stole tractors and high-value trophies in the past from the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, worth $503,000.

“America” first went on display at the Guggenheim in New York City in 2016. It made headlines again in 2017, after then US President Trump’s White House emailed the Guggenheim asking to borrow Vincent Van Gogh’s 1888 painting “Landscape with Snow”; instead, the institution’s curator offered the gold toilet.

At the Blenheim Palace, the toilet was installed in a room next to where Churchill was born.

But why was the toilet named “America”? Well, as per an official statement from the exhibition, the golden toilet could be perceived as a comment on the social, political and economic disparities in the US.

Commenting on the work, Cattelan previously told the New Yorker: “Whatever you eat, a two-hundred-dollar lunch or a two-dollar hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise.”

He also described the work as “1% art for the 99%.”

Three other men were also charged in connection with the toilet’s theft, but they haven’t pleaded guilty yet.
Michael Jones, 38, accused of burglary; and Frederick Sines, Bora Guccuck, 40 are both accused of conspiracy to transfer the criminal property. All men are due for trial in February next year.

(With inputs from agencies)