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Jonathan Miller with one of his sculptures in 2003 |
Polymath’s plea for the return of his sculptures
£200 reward after scrap merchants take Sir Jonathan’s handiwork
WHEN polymath Jonathan Miller allowed a scrap metal merchant to take away his old cast iron bath last November, he did not expect three sculptures to disappear with it.
The theatre and opera director and ground-breaking 1960s satirist, currently directing a cast including Joanna Lumley in The Cherry Orchard in Sheffield’s Crucible theatre, created the metal sculptures three years ago after being taught to weld while directing in New Mexico.
Mr Miller and his wife Rachel decided to store the untitled sculptures in the front garden of their Gloucester Crescent home but disaster hit last year when a passing scrap metal merchant knocked on their door.
Mr Miller said: “We were having our old cast iron bath replaced and it was broken in half and left in the front garden. A group of people in uniforms with some utterly forgettable title knocked on our door and offered to clear the front garden and I said fine and left them to it.
“It was only a couple of hours later that we noticed that the sculptures had gone too. I was amazed because they were very heavy pieces. We did what we could to find them and made some tentative enquiries but had no luck.”
While Mr Miller has tried to be philosophical about the loss – “they were made from junk metal and I suppose they’re now returning to junk” – the couple have decided on one last-ditch plea for information. They are offering a £200 reward for the return of the sculptures.
Mr Miller said: “They’re not that important but I liked them. They were some of the best pieces I’ve done – I actually got rather good at it. It would be nice to have them back or if anyone wanted to buy them I would be happy to sell them. But I would rather have them back really.”
Wife Rachel added: “I was very fond of them. They were associated with very happy times for us. The lawn does not look the same without them
“My hope is they may be sitting somewhere in a depot for scrap metal and someone might recognise them and accept our offer of £200 for them.”
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