LONDON.- Following the Art Loss Register’s location of two paintings stolen in a house burglary in Amsterdam in March 2010, the works have been successfully recovered for the benefit of the insurer.

The two paintings are Three Children and a Dog by Johannes Zoetelief Tromp, with an auction estimate of £14,000-20,000 and Still Life with Roses (illustrated) by Akkeringa Johannes Evert Hendrik, with an estimate of £2,700-4,000.

In February 2014, the Art Loss Register spotted them in the catalogue of a Swiss auction house. They are one of 95 auction houses that subscribe to the Art Loss Register’s routine catalogue searching service. The auction house stated that, ‘It is precisely for this reason that we subscribe to the Art Loss Register, so that we can detect claimed items as soon as possible and avoid running the risk of selling stolen art.’

The matches were verified with the Interpol database. The Art Loss Register immediately alerted the auction house, which promptly withdrew the paintings from sale. The Art Loss Register also informed the Dutch police and a police investigation began with the Dutch and Swiss law enforcement authorities co-operating internationally.

In February 2016, the paintings could finally be returned to the insurer who had paid out on the claim. With stolen art frequently crossing borders to avoid detection, this illustrates the importance of the Art Loss Register’s work internationally with police forces, insurers and auction houses to counter any attempts to sell stolen art.