The only work ever to have been stolen from the Cass Sculpture Foundation, near Goodwood, was an abstract-mythological bronze – an evocation of Venus by the brilliant but still rather underrated senior British sculptor, William Turnbull. The piece had been installed close to the sculpture park’s perimeter fence, where the thieves must have parked some kind of four-by-four vehicle, most probably a flatbed pick-up truck, in the adjoining field. One day the sculpture was there; the next morning it was gone.

“It must have taken them a while to remove it,” reflects Wilfred Cass, the extraordinarily energetic 82-year-old director of the foundation that bears his name. The work was never recovered but Cass has his theories about who took it. “It was a collector, for sure, and I have my suspicions about a bloke I can’t name. Whoever it was, they obviously wanted it a lot. It’s probably in the garden of some villa in Crete, right now. Some collectors will do anything to get a piece if they think it will impress their friends – even if they can’t afford it. Most of them really are bonkers, you know.” Then he brightens and says, with a typical sense of mischief, “still, I suppose it’s a good sign – at least it shows that British sculpture, nowadays, is in demand.” His tone of voice suggests that he remembers a time, perhaps not too long ago, when you could barely give the stuff away.

Cass might think most collectors are bonkers, but back in 1992 most of his friends were saying the same thing about him. He had just called time on a successful career, first as an engineer, then as an entrepreneur who specialised in reviving the fortunes of ailing businesses. But instead of retreating into a prosperous,...

To read the full article please either login or register .