Morning journal and courier., 1886-12-31

to have considerable knowledge of art and be generally we'll informed, or they would soon get found out. ?
 aDo these impostors carry on regular businesssn the dealer was asked.
 .sThere is little German on the east side who lives in dingy little basement and manufactures art eurios and brc-a-brac by the dozens. He supplies middlemen who dispose of the articles to dealers, or more frequently to private individual. This German doesn't manufacture paintings. That is a separate branch of the industry; but he is very clever in making Roman colns and in putting age on bronze and iron erna- ssfsspFts. It requires no small skill to make look as if it had lain nor tnnsand wears underground"
 stDo private individuals suffer much by these people who offer bogus antiquities2''
 Oh, they are easy prey for unscrupu- ious peddlsr of cnrios. Half of the wealthy people of New York have little or no knowl edge of art, so they are not hard to victim lze. Take the case of a man of small edu- cation who has suddenly acquired fortane. lie sees antiquities and historic works Of art in other peoples houses where it may be his fortune to visit, and immediately lmag1nes that It is the proper caper for him to have something of the kind too. The wSalthy parvenu has many vampires around him but not the least .ruinous is the man who pre- tends to sell him such articles as the snuff box of Beau Brummel, the walking cahe of George ", or the last portrait which Marie Antoinette sat for. Z | FaYou have no idea of the stuff that's 1y- | ing in luxurious parlors on Fifth afenue, rsyereneed 9n accG1nt of it's antjqqitg which soIne Tn pie get taken in in regard to pictures. peo- was the collection sold last year of the Ee pinwalls. They spent enormous sums Of money on those paintings. But, bless you, when the sale came the dealers were quick to see that the majority of the eanvases were copies, and so hardly 8 picture brought more than two thousand dollars, and the average price was about five hundred dollars
 ssAre commercials to be found in any of the fine colIeetions?'' the dealer was asked.
 'sIn the best you will always find some work of art skillfully executed that is humbug. It is safe to say that there is no collection in this country which is made up entirely of authentic works of art. Some of the smartest collectors will get taken in, but you couldn't persuade them to own up to the fact for any amount of money. They go so far as to indorse the bogus works of art, and in time get so that they believe at last them selves that they own the real article. When reflections of paintings or bric & sbrac, hand Hasdown from father to son and from gene iNfeS to generation, are finally sold, the
 nuNspexs among the real pass readily for
 Secause they bear not only the
 stamp or,sse, but of great and well known
 a,.s nave no osSosbt if were to make DOT
 p7 IlaiS l wlLn ara HSz machine and put it in a
 some grand old painks tba5 it won1dn,t stay
 there an hour. provide0sl,e price was under
 one hundred dollars. K, have no ides
 what 8 craze there is among sa renresenta 1 tives of the scodfish aristocracySto own old pictures and valuable bric-a-brac:<I r mnsi say have very little sympathy for sose. nj
 these people, for they seem to tempt nssr
 to gull them,n and the voluble dealer turned to shabby locking man who had just en
 tered and opened negotiations for the pur chase of the death mask of Napoleon.