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Year passes without clue to Cellini theft

VIENNA, May 11 (UPI) -- Authorities at Vienna's Art History Museum say they have no clue to the fate of a gold salt cellar sculpted by Benvenuto Cellini which was stolen a year ago.

A museum spokesman said the only development in the case occurred last September when UNIQA, which insured the rare vessel, received a letter demanding $6 million for its return and included identifiable fragments from the base of the stolen object. UNIQA, an Austrian insurance company, has posted a reward of $85,000 for information leading to its recovery.

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The salt cellar surmounted by reclining figures of Neptune and a sea nymph was taken during the early hours of May 11, 2003, by thieves who entered a gallery from scaffolding which had been erected on the museum's exterior in the course of repairs. The salt cellar, one of the masterpieces of Renaissance art, was valued conservatively to be worth $60 million on the art market.

Cellini was carrying the unfinished salt cellar when he arrived in France from Italy to work for Francis I in 1540. He completed it for the king later that year. It is the master's only fully authenticated work in precious metal.

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