"No Conclusive Evidence" Bute House Chandelier Looted From Nazi Germany
There is no conclusive evidence that a chandelier hanging in the Scottish First Minister's official Edinburgh residence was looted from Nazi Germany, according to a conservation charity.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which owns Bute House, has carried out an initial probe into its archives after the claims emerged over the weekend.
However, the chandelier has been added to a list of artefacts of uncertain provenance which allows people with more information to come forward.
An official guidebook for the Georgian house, in the Scottish capital's Charlotte Square, states that the chandelier was found ''abandoned in one of the streets of Cleves'', in northern Germany, by English interior decorator Felix Harbord.
Mr Harbord is said to have forwarded it to Lady Bute, who arranged for its repair and installation.
However, a report by Holocaust research organisation the Simon Wiesenthal Centre has cast doubt on its provenance, suggesting it may have been looted from the British collecting point at Schloss Celle or it may be an object looted from legitimate German ownership''.
The Scottish Government called on the conservation charity to investigate the claims.
The chandelier, with the Georgian house, was acquired by the Treasury in 1966 from the Bute family in lieu of death duties.
Ownership of Bute House passed to the National Trust for Scotland and in 1999 became the official home of Scotland's first ministers.
The provenance of the chandelier is thought to be based on a written account which had been in the possession of the donor family and no further records can be found in the archives, NTS said.
Jennifer Melville, head of collections care, archives and libraries, said: Unfortunately, back in the 1960s, when Bute House and its fixtures and fittings were acquired by the Treasury, it was not common for the detailed histories of objects to be investigated. They would simply be acquired, catalogued and put on display.
Nowadays there is a much more rigorous approach and all museums and galleries in the UK are particularly mindful of the issues surrounding items acquired in the 1930s and 1940s.
With this particular chandelier, all we have to go on is the written account passed on by the Marquess of Bute's estate.
The scenario painted by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre is concerning but we still have no conclusive evidence to confirm that the chandelier was indeed looted.''
She added: Nevertheless, as responsible custodians, we will lodge details of the chandelier on the central spoliation database.
This contains a list of artefacts held in the UK of uncertain provenance and enables anyone who may have further information to come forward.''