Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-10-29
Bogus f;ric-a-Brac.

As l was going into the Wardou
street shop of an acquaintance, London
who deals in bric-a-brac, | was passet
by a rough-looking man, making a RAPID
exit. My friend was in passion. o.
course, | inquired the reason.
did you see that wretch leaving a.
you entered?"
Yes"
"Well. he's the worst fraud in Eng.
land in the matter of curios."
'Ahl invents bogus bric-a-brac, doe:
he!" L gently inquired.
mo, but he's the agent for those
who make 1t in France and Spain and
try TO fOlst it on the dealers here"
'HOw has the man rufiled you?"
asked
''Ruflled Why this is the second
time he has tried to play bad business
ON me," +" said the dealer. "You know
what a diptych is, don't you?"
l confessed did not.
"Well, " said the dealer in old trash.
"a diptych is a couple of ivory tablets
put together, and they were used by the
old Greeks to write upon"
whats the good of emp"
They're cuTiOsities," replied he.
There are few in existence. The
British Museum has two, said to have
been In use in the time of Moses"
IBID that old guy get one of them?''
l asked.
why, that old guy, as you call him,
is rolling in money!" said the dealer.
"a piece of rare bric-a-brac himself,
theni" l remarked. You wouldn't
think these things, human or other
wise, one meets in your place, ARE worth
anything at all, and yet they command
fOrtune5-from fools"
THAT man who Just left," cOntin-
ued the dealer, ''came here a year ago
and with great secresy produced from
under his coat what seemed To be a rare
diptych. He wanted 600 for it. I'd
have bought it if he had said .e500, but
900 was like offering Buckingham
Palace for the price of a villa. This
made me suspicious. | examined it
closely and found it a patchwork of
carved ivory, but the work was new
and consequently bogus. L said moth
ing, but refused TO buy. The man, who
is a good actor, begged that | would
not betray him, saying he had stolen it
from monastery in Payia."
You didn't buy?'
NO"
Then why this rageP"
"Well, only two weeks ago | was
seat for by a millionaire to value some
property he had bought in SaxOny, L
went to his residence and the first thing
my eyes lit ON was this bogus diptych,
which my disreputabe visitor had man
aged to sell at last, thus cutting into
my business" D."
''Did you betray the fraud?"
"N1. That would discourage the
millionaire all through and the genuine
bric-a-brac trade would anguish"
''And the fraudulent dealer?"
''OhI l had it out with him. He
came back to-day, as you say. This
time he had Il twisted sword, manufac-
tured in Sheffield, which he wanted to
sell as an old Damascus blade, but L
gave him piece of MY mind, and he
was glad to skip"
"But he'll sell the Damascus blade, L
suppOse?" said L.
''Of course he will, and to the same
millionaire, my old customer, perhaps,
and dare not show him up. Isn't it
an outrage?" exclaimed my furious
friend.
1 did not feel much pity for him, but
l heard enough to entertain a whole
some suspicion of the integrity and an
tiquity of old curiOs-and this cOnver-
satiOn may be turned to profitable ac-
count by Americans who are bric-a-brac
in Europe at the present mo-
ment. Verbum sat sapienti.