“Mick Taylor is mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met’s collection”: A stolen Rolling Stones ’59 Les Paul that has been missing since 1972 has surfaced – in a museum

The Met’s new exhibition of guitars has become the center of international intrigue, after a 1959 Les Paul Standard that had been stolen from Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor in the early 1970s mysteriously re-surfaced as part of the collection.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that it had come into the possession of a 500-strong arsenal of guitars back in May. Included in the hefty donation was a Bigsby-loaded 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard used by Keith Richards during the band’s legendary appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

Having seen the news of the guitar’s arrival at the Met, Taylor’s manager has now revealed that the guitar’s prominence goes beyond that show, sharing previously unknown details about the guitar.

Taylor had bought the guitar from Richards in 1967 as he prepared to join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. However, a few years later, after Taylor then joined the Stones in 1969, the guitar was stolen in 1972 during the recording of Exile on Main Street.

It was stolen from Villa Nellcôte, a sprawling mansion in Côte d'Azur, and was said to have been carried out by local drug dealers. Nine guitars ultimately went missing, alongside a bass guitar belonging to Bill Wyman and Bobby Keys’ saxophone.

“There are numerous photos of Mick Taylor playing this Les Paul, as it was his main guitar until it disappeared," says Marlies Damming. “The interesting thing about these vintage Les Pauls is that they are renowned for their flaming, which is unique, like a fingerprint.”

As reported by Louder Sound (via pagesix.com), a source claims, “Taylor says he never received compensation for the theft and is mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met’s collection.”

Jimmy Page is also believed to have played the guitar during his days as a session musician, and Eric Clapton borrowed it for a Cream show in July 1966, after ironically, one of his electric guitars was swiped during rehearsals.

Avid gear collector, Dirk Ziff, was behind the Met’s new donation, which has been in the works since 1987. The instruments date between 1920 and 1970, with guitars that once belonged to notable players including Roy Rogers and Mississippi John Hurt among them. Its existence, up until May, had been kept secret for decades.

“It was so secretive that when I, as a curator of the Met, came to visit, I had no idea what was actually there,” The Met’s Jayson Dobney revealed. “I just saw those eight guitars.”

“Since embarking on this journey with Perry in 1987, our objective has been to assemble a comprehensive collection of American guitars, many of them historic and culturally significant, and preserve them for the benefit of future generations,” Ziff had said in May. “It is genuinely thrilling to see our vision validated at the greatest cultural institution in the world.”

Taylor’s camp has now added more mystery and intrigue to the collection.