Artist's embalmed tramp to be buried

A dead tramp who was embalmed and turned into a work of art to highlight the plight of an underclass 18 years ago may soon be buried.

Edwin Mackenzie was living in a concrete barrel on a rubbish tip in Plymouth when he was discovered by the radical artist Robert Lenkiewicz. The men became friends and Mr Mackenzie was among several vagrants featured in works of art designed to provoke the middle classes into acts of charity. When he died of natural causes in 1984, the artist fulfilled his promise to preserve him in chemicals, and hid him in a set of drawers in his studio.

The local authority insisted the tramp be buried and raided the studio. Only the artist was found in the drawers.

But when Lenkiewicz, a graduate of St Martin's College of Art and Design in London, died last August, the mystery was solved.

Executors from the Lenkiewicz Foundation discovered the well-preserved corpse in the studio.

A coroner has now told the executors that if they can prove they have a right to lawful possession they can bury Mr Mackenzie, who had no known relatives.

The Plymouth and South Devon coroner, Nigel Meadows, said: "It is an unusual but not unique situation.

"If no one can come forward with a proper right of claim for possession then the body is released to the local authority for burial."

A death certificate states the tramp's occupation as "Artist's assistant (retired)".