The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-04-13 00:00:00

A PICTURE SALE IN LONDON.

In London, last Saturday, there was a very large sale of
pictures of importance at Messrs. Christie, Manson, and
Wood's rooms, St. James's-square. The eoliection, known
as the "Novae was formed by the late Mr.
Munro the intimate friend and executor of the late Mr. J.
W. M. Turner. Many of the pictures by great artists reached
very high figures, two masterpieces of Benington and one of
Sir Joshua Reynolds each fetching 3,000 guineas. Thirty-
two of Turner's water-colour drawings realised the very
large sum of 16,015 guineas, and nine leading examples of
the master were then put up, and brought in the aggregate
41,560 guineas. The whole proceeds of the sale of 105 works
amounted to £73,519 is. 6d., or an average of about £7OO
each. The Times preface their notice of the sale by the
following remarks :

"The most extraordinary and enthusiastic interest
was shown during the exhibition of the pictures on the
three days preceding the sale, the spacious reoms being
crowded from the moment of opening till the closing,
and even then peoplelingered before the pictures' and it
required repeated loud summonses from the porters in
attendance before the rooms could be cleared. It has
been calculated that from 12 to 15 thousand persons
must have passed before the pictures, and this is founded
on some tangible data in the number of catalogues sold.
The proceeds of these are devoted, as in the case of
other great sales by Messrs. Christie, to the Artist Gene-
ral Benevolent Fund, and when last we inquired the
sum amounted to over £7O. On the morning of the
sale day, such was the pressure to obtain good places
n the large room that it was found necessary to keep
he door closed for a time and admit those who were
concerned in the business of the sale by tickets. The
room was densely packed as the time for commencing
the sale arrived, and even in the ante-room numbers of
persons stood anxious to catch a sight of the pictures
in the easel and to hear the biddings rise from thou-
sand to thousand guineas, amid the applause of the
excited audience. The feeling of admiration ex-
pressed while the pictures were on the walls was con-
stantly met with the question, "What will they sell
for?" and while some good judges did not hesitate to name
very large sums, others spoke of the bad times hnd
doubted whether these exceptionally beautiful pictures
of the great master would hold their own as they had
a few years ago when priaes seemed to be at the zenith
in the sale of the "Venice" for 7,000 guineas. How-
ever, the enthusiasts were speedily made happy when
the first high note was sounded in the bid of 3,000
guineas for the smaller Bonington from Messrs.
Agnew, followed immediately by another of the same
firm for the larger picture by the same painter. The
loud applause when this masterpiece was put on the
easel and when it passed away at this high price
gave a brilliant opening to the sale, which then pro-
ceeded quietly with the less important pictures till the
Turner drawings came up, when the excitement began
in earnest, and some eager contests arose, culminating
with the great pictures, of which the six choicest ones
averaged 5,000 guineas each, and bringing this
remarkable sale to a conclusion with a total of £73,520,
the highest ever reached for such a small number of
pictures, of which it may be said that only about 50
were of first-rate interest."