A woman has been reunited with a sculpture she lost during a Jubilee street party more than one month ago. Joanne Coughlan, from Lawrence Grove in Henleaze, was left devastated when the sculpture she spent the 2020 lockdown creating was 'stolen' while at the party, which she had been attending with her neighbours during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee weekend.
The sculpture, which is really a male underwear mannequin covered in mosaic tiles, took Joanne more than 100 hours to mosaic and has great sentimental value to her. Fortunately, after a recent trip away, Joanne and her sculpture - which she lovingly refers to as 'Jack' - have now been reunited.
And it seems it wasn't stolen at all, but rather the result of a case of mistaken sculpture identity! Joanne told Bristol Live: "I got back from my holiday yesterday and he was home! I've only had a story second hand of his return - apparently someone visiting an elderly neighbour had thought it was theirs and took him in.
Read more: Woman offering £100 reward for return of her Union Jack underwear mannequin sculpture
"The neighbour had hoped someone would knock on the door looking for it and hadn't seen any of the posters I put up. He was talking to someone who mentioned him being stolen and realised they had him."
Joanne had made and put up posters to help track down the sculpture, which usually resides on her staircase next to a similar sculpture known as Jack's "twin". However on the day of the Jubilee street party, she had put him out on display on a piece of grass and described how the road had been closed and no cars had been given access.
She initially believed that students had pinched the sculpture as part of a prank when, upon looking at the patch of grass near to where she had been sat eating with her neighbours, she realised it had 'disappeared'. At the time Joanne said: "It was like it was just swept away from under our noses, there were a lot of people around and we were eating right next to it.
"I'm absolutely devastated. It was my lockdown project for the 2020 lockdown and it even has that written on the bottom of the sculpture. I've only been doing this for four years. I decided I needed a hobby!
"I was offered £1000 for it after I made it and I also make other things - I have a few other mannequins and mannequins legs, everything I make is quite quirky."
Joanne is currently working on her latest project - a toilet, which she is going to cover in mosaics and use as a water feature in the garden.
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