The San Francisco call., 1904-12-22
ROMNEY CANVAS
BRINGS FORTUNE
Romantic Story Back of
Recent Sale of Picture
in London for $34,125
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LONDON, Dec. 21.-Behind the sale
of a Romney picture at Christie's for
$500 guineas ($34,125) lies a romance
1t opens forty years ago at the little
seaport and mining town of White
haven, on the Cumberland coast. A
small tradesman had fallen into diff
culties and a sale was held of his
household effects, which was attended
chiefly by frugal housewives in search
of bargains in the shape of pots and
pans and second-han furniture Their
interest slackened when the auctioneer
unrolled three grimy canvases, and d
local wight. who had strayed upon the
scene. bought the lot for few shilI-
ings, without the faintest idea that
among them was an art treasure that
would be worth a fortune some day.
In fact, he cared little for pictures him
self and bought them more as a joke
than anything else.
Among the women present was Mrs
John Tomlinson, bent on picking up
cheaply some articles Of domestic util-
ity. Her husband was a civil servant
of sorts, being a Government distribu-
tor of stamps" and man of some in
telligence. with liking for pictures.
Thrifty Mrs. Tomlinson did not believe
in wasting money on such things her
self, but she told John of the incident
The next day he sought out the pur-
chaser, who gave himself credit for
displaying remarkable shrewdness IN
selling them again for twice what he
had paid for them.
TOmlinSOn stretched the caOvaSes
and hung them in his house He had no
idea at that time of the amazing value
of his find. Some painter chaps" in
the neighborhood told him that they
were certainly good pictures, which he
regarded as a f1attering tribute to his
own judgment and cultured taste. On
the strength of them, as the years
rolled by. he acquired quite a local rep
utation as an art connoisseur. Artists
visiting the neighborhood frequently
dropped in upon him and admired his
little collection. He received several
local offers for them, which he stub
bornly resisted.
One artist settled at Whitehaven re-
peatedly tried to induce him to part
with the Romney canvas. He was not
quite certain that Ii was ROmney,
and the price he offered was only a
fraction of what 1t fetched at auction.
but ii represented a prodigious sum to
Tomlinson. Still he declined. He had
enough to keep him in comfort in his
old age, and he did not banker after
riches Strangely enough, no news of
the Whitehaven treasure ever reached
the ears OF the big dealers, and in con-
sequence none of the hungry rowing
commissioners of the art world ever
descended on the town of the under
sea mines.
Tomlinson died intestate when near
ly 90. Some of the heirs wrote to Chris
ties about his pictures. One of the ex-
perts of the firm was dispatched north
and saw at glance the richness of
Whitehaven's secret. Very different
was the scene at Christie's sale from
that other sale forty years earlier. The
place was jammed. For two and a half
hours the patient sightseers awaited
the appearance on the easel of the pic
ture which the Whitehaven house
wives had eyed with disdain.
At length the unframed canvas, so
long the adornment of n humble man
telpiece, was hoisted up. Hundreds of
wedged elbows stiffened. Hundreds of
eager eyes turned to the picture. The
dealers cleared their throats.
Five hundred guineas,' exclaimed