More Nazi-Looted Art Found Its Way To NYC

A porcelain nymph gets to go home to Germany for the holidays. The piece, titled "Nereid Sweetmeat Stand," was part of an 18th Century dinner service that was stolen from a castle in Germany during World War II, according to reports. It was only recently re-discovered, at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, but first it came to New York. It traveled to Ohio by way of Manhattan, when an art gallery in the city sold it to the museum in 1955.

A little bit of history: "In 1737, Count Heinrich von Bruehl, the prime minister of Saxony and the founding patron of the Meissen porcelain factory, ordered the factory's chief modeler to create a royal dinner service." Four years later he received the Swan Service—a service for 100 comprising 2,200 pieces. This was the centerpiece of that service, which (along with 36 other pieces) was given to the Dresden Museum—during the war, it was packaged in a box with the other pieces and hidden in Reichstaedt castle for safekeeping, but was stolen. It will now be given to the heirs of the former prime minister of Saxony—it's worth is a whopping $1 Million!

Recently paintings stolen by the Nazis during WWII were discovered in Manhattan, and speaking of Nazis, LIFE has put up this sort of chilling photo gallery of how Hitler & Co. celebrated Christmas—check it out here.