Antiques and jewellery believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds have been stolen from one of the world’s top auction houses.
Valuable works of art, including rare pieces by Faberge - the court jewellers of Imperial Russia - were taken from Christie’s headquarters in Piccadilly.
Police are probing the theft of the ‘high-value items’ two weeks ago, but there have been no arrests and none of the stolen items have been recovered.
A twice-yearly auction of Russian art at Christie’s last month made £20 million and saw many valuable items by Faberge go under the hammer, including a crystal vase that fetched £314,500.
The stolen items were taken from the auction house in King Street on the night of Sunday December 7.
Staff alerted the police after the burglary was discovered the following morning.
Scotland Yard’s elite art and antiques unit informed the British Antique Dealers’ Association.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We can confirm that officers from Westminster are currently investigating a burglary at business premises which is believed to have occurred between 6pm on Sunday December 7th and 8am on Monday December 8th.
“A number of high value items were taken. Inquiries are continuing. There have been no arrests.”
A Christie’s spokeswoman said: “Christie’s is helping the Metropolitan Police to investigate a recent, isolated incident at its London offices.”
