After more than a half century on display at the Toledo Museum of Art, the Meissen Swan Service Nereid was returned to German officials via the United States Department of Immigration and Customs enforcement in a transfer ceremony held at the Museum on February 23, 2011.
In late 2010, the Museum, working collaboratively with the United States Department of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and representatives from Dresden, Germany, determined that the Swan Service centerpiece purchased by TMA in 1956 is the same porcelain centerpiece taken from Dresden museum storage at the end of World War II. The transfer ceremony was the first step toward the Nereid’s eventual repatriation back to Germany, where she returned to public view after a 70-year absence.
