In the early hours of 14 September 2019, a brazen heist at Blenheim Palace saw thieves make off with a solid 24k gold toilet worth £4.8 million at the time of the theft. The artwork titled ‘America’ by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan was stolen just hours after the working privy was installed. More than five years later, three men have been convicted of a crime that intrigued the media and art world alike.
Eleanor Paice, a services supervisor living in a staff flat in the 18th-century stately home, reported the robbery. She was abruptly awakened by smashing glass. Accustomed to unusual noises, she dismissed the disturbance until fire alarms began blaring. Rushing to evacuate to the great courtyard, she unknowingly stumbled into the final moments of the heist.
The men had broken into the palace and ripped the 98kg (216 lbs) golden toilet from its plumbing, leaving it gushing water and then running off in a stolen Volkswagen Polo. The fully functional artwork, part of Cattelan’s exhibition, had been displayed for two days.
On Tuesday, Oxford Crown Court convicted two men directly involved in the burglary. James Sheen, 40, from Oxford, pleaded guilty to burglary and transferring criminal property earlier this year, while Michael Jones, 39, also from Oxford, was found guilty of burglary. Fred Doe, 36, from Windsor, was convicted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property. A fourth suspect, Bora Guccuk, 41, from west London, was cleared of the same charge.
The heist, which took just five minutes from entry to escape, left staff and security teams reeling. Ms Paice described the chaotic scene as follows: “It was just shadows and quick movement. I just saw them move towards the car, get in the car… and then the car just sped straight off.”
The theft occurred just hours after a private view party hosted by Cattelan, celebrating the artwork’s first display outside New York. Blenheim Palace chief executive Dominic Hare, who attended the event, recalled considering using the toilet but deciding against it due to a long queue. “I told myself, ‘That’s okay, there’s no point queuing. You can come back tomorrow and have a look,'” he said. Hare has since taken full responsibility for the security failures that allowed the thieves to execute their plan.
Thames Valley Police Reveal Challenges in Convicting James Sheen Following Blenheim Heist
Thames Valley Police have disclosed that forensic analysis of James Sheen’s clothing and DNA was a “complex and time-consuming process,” which initially left investigators without sufficient evidence to charge him at the time of his arrest. As a result, they were unable to keep him in custody.
Sheen’s criminal activities were only halted when he was recalled to prison in June 2020 for breaching the terms of an earlier release. He had been serving a 14-year sentence for his involvement in a 2009 shooting in Coventry, where he and his brother chased a group through the streets, firing a shotgun from their Range Rover.
In a statement, the victims and their families expressed their belief that Sheen remains “a danger to the public and should never be allowed out of prison again.” Sheen had been released on licence in 2017, halfway through his 14-year sentence, before his involvement in the Blenheim Palace heist and subsequent recall to prison.
Maurizio Cattelan (b. 1960, Padua, Italy) is one of contemporary art’s most provocative and irreverent figures. Known for his dark humour and conceptual brilliance, Cattelan’s works often blur the lines between satire, social commentary, and absurdity.
His most infamous pieces include Comedian (2019), a simple yet audacious artwork consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall. It sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami Beach—only to be later eaten by a performance artist. The piece became a viral sensation, sparking debates on the nature of art and commerce.
Another of his headline-grabbing works, America (2016), was a fully functional, 18-carat gold toilet meant as a tongue-in-cheek critique of excess and inequality. The toilet was installed at the Guggenheim Museum in New York before being moved to Blenheim Palace in England. In 2019, it was stolen in a daring five-minute heist, likely melted down and lost forever.
Beyond these works, Cattelan’s career is filled with bold and often controversial pieces, such as La Nona Ora (1999), which depicts Pope John Paul II struck down by a meteorite, and Him (2001), an eerie sculpture of Adolf Hitler in a childlike pose of prayer.
Though he has often claimed to be “retired,” Cattelan continues to challenge the art world with his wit and fearless creativity, proving that his legacy is anything but conventional.