Stolen treasure

This centrepiece bowl, made by C.G. Schierholz and Sohn, Germany, was looted from Neuschwanstein Castle after liberation by an unknown American soldier, who exchanged it for a bottle of whisky from a survivor. It is similarly elaborate in its design to the fairy-tale castle that housed it.

King Ludwig II, known for his eccentric behaviour and passion for spending money, designed Neuschwanstein castle as an isolated refuge. This made it the perfect hiding spot for art plundered from France when Hitler ordered his exclusive art-looting taskforce to search lodges, libraries and archives of the occupied territories for material valuable to Germany.

Between 1940 and 1945, Nazi officials funnelled stolen valuables to various locations throughout Germany including monasteries, salt mines and castles. When US troops descended upon Neuschwanstein in 1945, they discovered a catalogued collection of 21,000 items, including gold, silver, paintings, jewellery and furniture, stolen from Jewish sources. Many of these plundered treasures were intended for the Führer's Museum.

The process of identification and restitution of treasures to their original owners continues to this day. It is not known which family originally owned the bowl.