The musée Cognacq-Jayone of the fourteen museums of the City of Paris managed by Paris Musées, and located in the 3rd arrondissement of the capital, was the target of a violent robbery on the morning of November 20, 2024. While the place was open to public, four hooded men smashed a display case containing precious objects with axes and baseball bats before seizing them.
“No injuries have been reported. The municipal police and the national police intervened immediately following the events”specifies Paris City Hall in a press release. A psychological and listening unit was set up for the agents and visitors present at the time of the events.
The criminals stole five historic boxes and snuff boxes. Two of them, dating from the 18th century, made respectively by Johann Christian Neuber (around 1763-1770) and by Daniel Baudesson (1760-1770), belong to the collections of the Louvre Museum and were loaned as part of the “Luxury in Pocket” exhibition, which presented “small precious and sophisticated objects from the Age of Enlightenment, in gold, enriched with hard stones or precious stones, covered with mother-of-pearl, porcelain or translucent enamels, sometimes decorated with miniatures”specifies the presentation of the exhibition.
The “Luxury in Pocket” exhibition included objects from the collection of Ernest Cognacq as well as loans from the Louvre Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, the Château de Versailles, the Palais Galliera, the English Royal Collections or the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
“Considering the historical value and the precious nature of these pieces, the Louvre Museum and all the services of the Ministry of Culture will facilitate the rapid identification of these two art objects as part of the ongoing investigations in order, in particular , to make it difficult to conceal them”specifies the Ministry of Culture.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office has referred an investigation into armed robbery by an organized gang to the anti-banditry brigade. The City of Paris filed a complaint. The Cognacq-Jay museum is now closed. Its reopening is scheduled for December 10, 2024. The amount of loot, currently being evaluated, could amount to 1 million euros.
