Man who accidentally broke museum vases gets ban |
|
|
Published
:
Tue, 07 Feb 2006 17:10
|
LONDON: The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge has banned future entry for a man who tripped, fell down a staircase and smashed into three rare Chinese vases two weeks ago.
"It was just a regrettable accident," said Nick Flynn, a regular visitor to the museum. He said he was attempting to tie his loose shoelaces, when he missed his step and crashed down the staircase.
The Qing vases, part of the most important exhibits at the museum, belonged to the late 17th century or early 18th century. These were donated to the museum in 1946 and are estimated to be of a value of 100,000 pounds.
Flynn, 42, who is single and residing nearby and who receives a disability benefit after a bike accident, said he has a letter from the director of the museum Duncan Robinson, asking him not to visit the museum again in the near future.
Robinson said the museum staff is evaluating whether the vases can be repaired and brought back to their shapes. They are also taking steps to prevent such accidents in future.
Police, which visited the museum and questioned the staff as well as the visitors, have ruled out any malicious damage.
The museum had suffered such losses in the past too. In 2001, a glass sculpture by US artist Dale Chihuly worth 35,000 pounds was accidentally smashed by a workman at London's Victoria & Albert Museum. In 2003 archaeologists had to restore a piece of 1200-year-old fossilised human excrement, after it was broken into three pieces during a school trip to the Archaeological Resource Centre in York.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
Partridges goes for a song; Christie's finances the deal 