Thieves smashed the display case at the Cognac-Jay Museum in Paris using axes and baseball bats, stealing five collectible 18th-century snuffboxes and caskets in front of museum visitors, AFP reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation.
The masked and gloved criminals, wearing helmets, carried out the robbery on Wednesday, shortly after the museum opened for the day.
No visitors or staff were injured during the incident. According to the source, the stolen items, “five historical caskets and snuffboxes,” were part of the museum’s “Luxe en poche” (“Pocket Luxury”) exhibition. The damage is still being assessed.
The Cognac-Jay Museum, which opened in 1929, was founded based on the collection of the founders of the Parisian department store La Samaritaine. The “Pocket Luxury” exhibition features “small, precious, and refined” items from the Enlightenment period, made of gold and adorned with gemstones, mother-of-pearl, porcelain, enamel, and sometimes miniatures.
