Glasgow museums says £3m sculpture is missing

A statue thought to be worth £3m is currently “unlocated” in Glasgow’s collections, museum officials have said.

The plaster sculpture, by French sculptor Auguste Rodine, was bought by Glasgow Museum from the artist in 1901.

Glasgow Life, the charity responsible for running the city’s museums, says it was exhibited in Kelvingrove Park in 1941 but is now listed as “unlocated”.

It is one of around 1,750 items currently listed as missing or stolen.

According to a report from The Times, the missing inventory also includes gold coins linked to 16th century monarch Queen Mary I of Scotland.

There has been increased scrutiny on missing artefacts from the reserves of UK museums since the British Museum acknowledged the theft of thousands of items.

Earlier this month, an investigation by the BBC found Museum Wales, the institution managing seven national museum in Wales, is missing almost 2,000 items.

Last week, Museums Association Director Sharon Heal said the recent media coverage of missing items is “misleading and damaging to the reputation of museums”.

“It is unsurprising that, with collections amounting to tens of millions of items that have been collected over many decades, some items might be missing or unaccounted for.”