The story of the statue of King George III that once stood in New York’s Bowling Green is well known - the statue was dragged from its plinth by a revolutionary mob five days after the signing of the Declaration of Independence (and a month and a half before New York was recaptured by the British). After being abused and broken apart it was shipped to Litchfield, Connecticut, where it was melted down and cast into musket balls, the perfect metaphor of revolutionary struggle and triumph.
Less well known is the part of the story where the convoy bearing the king’s broken remains stopped overnight in Wilton, Connecticut. During the early morning hours American Loyalists living in the area took a number of the statue’s pieces and hid them in various locations in the town. Those pieces included one of the king’s arms. It remained concealed - apparently buried for decades, perhaps centuries, in a garden plot - until 1991, when a resident of the town who lived in a home owned by Tory Job Burlock rediscovered it. It is now about to go up on auction.
