Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-01

| or the mOSa1cS and the manner and To-
cation in which they had been found
The latter realized that he had beer
trapped and began to beg for mercy
but the purchaser sent for policeman
and made a charge of fraud in court
which resulted in a conviction and q
sentence of ten months Imprisonment.
If every person who is imposed upon
would be so public spirited as to prose
cute frauds OF this kind it would b.
for the general welfare. In France it is
easily done. Any purchaser can call
for an affidavit concerning an article
he may buy. and the affidavit, with the
article itself. may be sent to an in
spector at any time. No further evil
dence is necessary. A dealer who doc
tored up piece of new tapestry and
sold it for a rare and costly product of
the middle ages has just been sent to
Jail for ten months and fined 10000
francs.
Another class Of manufacturers evade
the law by restoring antiques and
selling them as restored" articles. but
they are like the jack-knife that first
had new handle and then new blades,
but WAS the same old jack-knife still.
For example curio dealer will pur-
chase a genuine seventeenth century
clock Of some famous maker, take it to
pieces and build a dozen or twenty new
clocks, in each of which some of the
pieces Of the old one appear. Or a
genuine antique cabinet may be treat
ed in the same way and distributed
through a dozen new ones, all built ex-
actly like the original, so as to cor
respond with each particular part. 1t
may be only panel or a drawer or 4
doorknob. The fact that any part of 1t.
however small. is antique, justifies the
seller in asserting that it is restored
The government knows all about
these things, and while it will not do to
say that such frauds are encouraged
nothing is done to prevent them. The
officials are aware that ship loads Of
bogus antiquities and works of art are
sent to the United States and England,
because. under the law, everything Of
this kind has to be inspected before it
can leave the country. and pay an ex-
port tax of 20 per cent. of it's value.
Hence the government derives con-
siderable revenue and permits, if it
does not encourage, the fraudulent
traffic.
Some of these bogus articles are sold
at very high prices, way up into the
thousands of dollars. and the very
fact that the price is large is an ad-
ditional reason for permitting the
fraud.
In the archives of the minister of ed
.ucation is a catalogue of all the valu-
e, q<3ca MOI Of ~ nd NJ in
Italy. 1t was made many years ago by
4 census so that the government
officials can locate and identify every
article ofValue. When a bogus picture
or statue is sold the officials cannot
help but know it, because the law re-
Guires that it shall be taken to the ex-
Port bnreau of the National Museum,
where q commission examines it to de-
eide Whether the government shall ex
ereisexthe option Of purchase, which is
yestedi in the government by law. If
the commission determines that the
government does not care to buy the
pieceSH is often equivalent to branding
1t al n fraud, because no valuable work
OF Art is permitted to leave the coun-
try. Having secured the permission to
export, the seller or the purchaser, as
the case may be, pays an export duty
amounting to 20 per cent. of the selling
price. If the government decides to
exercise its legal option the appraisers
fix the price. They cannot compel the
owner to accept it, but if he does not
he cannot sell it to anyone else. The
law applies to modern as well as to
ancient works, except that the duty
t.. act nf
per cent The government does not
buy modern pictures or statues. 1t
spends all the money it can spare on
the old masters.
At Florence the tax is not so high,
but the law is quite as severe and pre-
vents old families now in poverty from
selling their pictures and furniture.
Many families in Italy have been liv-
ing for years upon the few things that
they can sell, but are unable to realize
anything like the real value Of the COL
lections that were made by their opu-
lent ancestors, because the articles
cannot be sent out of the country and
the government will not pay a high
rate.
| At Florence everything has to be
taken TO dil oufIcr -p~iSh VI NhC - AhHi
Gallery. where Signor Ridolfi, the Off
cial commissioner in charge of the ex-
port bureau. is the appraiser. If the
article is not wanted by the govern
ment he collects tax of ? per cent.
and gives the permit. Museums in the
United States, England and other
countries have to go through this same
process, and the officials permit them
Ito be deceived as often as the case may
be- Not long ago q museum in Ger
many purchased q large. invoice OF
| fraudulent antiquities which have
since been exposed. The dealers have
never been punished, but the trade has
received a severe blow.
| Big dealers in antiquities, who have
auctions in Paris. London. New York
and other places, are required to give
cash bonds before they can shiI
stock out of the country. Similar
bonds are required when they send eX-
1hibits to expositions in foreign coun-
tries one dealer in Florences for. exi
fample was required to put up $4,000
In cash before the government would
allow him to send his exhibit to tht
Paris exposition.
| Mr.. Kountz, the New York banker
recently had a little experience in try
ing to get a statue of Juno out of the