5. A Porcelain Statuette of William Pitt the Elder – 1953
In 1953, an opportunistic thief stole an 18th-century porcelain statuette of English statesman William Pitt the Elder while the guards switched posts. The statuette was dated to 1775 and was created by the esteemed Chelsea-Derby porcelain factory. The piece stood on a mantel in a Philadelphia room on the second floor of the American Wing.
The statue, which stood just under a foot tall, was securely anchored to the mantel, but the thief ripped it right off. Museum officials told The New York Times that the statuette’s value was “nominal,” as many similar statuettes had been made in the 18th century.
