The planned sale of a Henry Moore sculpture hasprompted a row between two London councils over its ownership.Tower HamletsCouncil plans to sell Draped Seated Woman to offset the impact of governmentcuts.
But BromleyCouncil has said the sculpture belongs to Londoners as it was bought by LondonCounty Council in the 1960s to be placed in east London.
Tower Hamletssaid the statue was transferred to the council during local governmentreorganisation.
The artwork,known as Old Flo, was loaned to Yorkshire Sculpture Park after the StiffordEstate, the Tower Hamlets housing estate in which it was housed, was demolishedin the late 1990s.
'National treasure'
In a letter toTower Hamlets, Bromley Council said the sculpture became the property of theGreater London Council when that authority replaced London County Council. Andit said it remained in the ownership of the GLC until its dissolution in 1985,after which it was transferred to Bromley.
Stephen Carr,leader of Bromley Council, said: "This sculpture must remain in publicownership which is line with the original principles of Henry Moore himself.
"The ideathat selling this internationally recognised sculpture will somehow tackle thefinancial situation facing Tower Hamlets is flawed. Local authorities need toface financial reality and look at the longer-term challenges.
"Themonies raised would not protect frontline services for very long and would stopfuture generations appreciating this national treasure."
'Cavalier plans'
But a statementfrom Tower Hamlets said: "Tower Hamlets Council refute that Bromley haveany right to the asset.
"Bromleymaintain in their letter that the asset was acquired for Londoners as a whole.
"HoweverLBTH [London Borough of Tower Hamlets] has checked the minutes of the LCCGeneral Purposes Committee for 15 May 1962 which authorised the purchase andthese specifically state that the statue was "to be sited in Stifford Estate(Stepney)".
"There isno dispute between any of the parties that the Stifford Estate transferred toLBTH during local government reorganisation."
StephenDeuchar, director of the Art Fund, said following Bromley Council's claim"Tower Hamlets's cavalier plans" must be halted.
Tower Hamletssaid it had to make the decision to sell the artwork as the cost of insuring it"proved to be unreasonable".
Source: BBC
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