General

Golden hare returns to Britain

The object of a nation-wide treasure hunt comes home for a visit

In 1979 artist Kit Williams created a bestselling children’s book called Masquerade with lavish illustrations that offered visual clues to where he had buried an 18-karat gold pendant in the shape of a hare. It was finders keepers, and thousands of Britons dug up lawns and parks across southern England. The hare was discovered in 1982, not without controversy—the finder, it was revealed in 1988, was the new boyfriend of Williams’ former girlfriend, who knew the approximate location of the cache. The pendant went abroad after it went on the block at Sotheby’s in 1988 and was bought by an anonymous foreign bidder for about $65,000. Earlier this year, as Masquerade’s 30th anniversary approached, a BBC radio show broadcast an appeal for anyone who knew the hare’s location. A granddaughter of the still-unnamed new owner put him in touch with the BBC, and last week the golden hare came back, temporarily, for an emotional reunion with its creator. “I had not remembered it being as delicate as it is,” Williams said. “When I picked it up the little bells jingled, and it sparkled in a way that I had forgotten as well.”

BBC News

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