“Art detective” Arthur Brand has received a delivery of six paintings stolen from the former town hall in Medemblik in September, the Telegraaf said on Tuesday.

The paintings were delivered by van to Brand’s home, he told the paper. He said he did not question the delivery man so as not to threaten the return of the works, which, he said, was more important.

“The only thing he said was that he was not involved in the robbery, but that the paintings had come into his possession,” Brand said. “It is also interesting that no-one has yet claimed the €10,000 reward being offered for their return.”

The works included portraits of notables such as the oldest known portrait of Frisian king Radboud, as well as Willem van Oranje and Jan van Nassau. However, a barometer and a chandelier also taken from the town hall are still missing.

Brand told the paper he suspected the thieves had decided to return the works because they were not proving easy to sell. “All the media attention has made it quite clear they are stolen goods,” he said.

Brand hit the headlines earlier this year for his role in the return of a stolen Van Gogh. The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring, one of Van Gogh’s early works dating from 1884, was taken from the Singer Museum in Laren in March 2020. At the time it was on loan from the Groninger Museum.