The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1904-08-11
SOME ART TREASURES
sums Paid for Tapestries
by Rich Americans
Cincinnati Post

1850
by kich Americans
When IL was announced awhile q
that the set Of Aeneas and Dido tapes
tries from the Barberini palace were
sold for 10000 TO John r. Mclean. OF
Washington. the statement was made
that this was the record price in Amer
lea for q sale Of this kind, says the
New York Press. In view OF The fact
that there were eight pieces IN the Set
ranging from Is by Is feet TO - by %
feet this figure is small in comparison
with that paid by other men OF wealth
In this country for tapestries.
There are W. small textile pieces
now in this city that sre valued at 49,
90. For their size they are probably
the costliest in the world
These tapestries are G by 3 feet IN
size and make a small bundle that.
tied up In cotton cloth. reposes In a
safe deposit vault. only 10 be brought
out on rare occasions 10 the sight Of
a prospective buyer. The dealer who
owns them admits there are not more
than four men in America who are
likely to buy them They were made
ir the Gobeiin factory in Paris. and
are after designs 10y Boucher. n rep
resencng a man attending a woman
sested In a swing. the other s group OF
men and women lying In picturesque
attitudes In a psrklike landscape. The
costumes are In the ann OF Wat
tesu and the coloring is exquisiteiy
soft and lovely.
In the William c. Whitney house Is
probably the finest collection OF tapes
tr1es in this city. II not In America.
Just what they cost few persons know.
for Mr.. Whitney always was srerxe TO
telling what be paid for his art oh
jects, one OF his fsvorite replies 10 in
quirfes being: I'D be ashamed 10 tel
you"
Col Oliver II. Payne. Mr.. Whi;Deys
b~rotherIn-law. has a Gothic tapestry
hanging in the dswing-room Of his
Firth avenue home hat cost $4,000
IL in behind glass. and represents the
finest work Of the looms Of Arras. in
Flanders.
Clarence II. Mackay has a set Of six
Italian tapestries that COS him more
than $4,000. for a local dealer paid
that sum for them in Paris before they
passed into Mr.. Mackay's possession.
two years ago. Paris. which is the
European clearing house for textiles or
this nature. has. In the words Of an
expert. gone mad" over the prices at
which they hold these things. One sxl2
Gobelin tapestry now in that city is
valued al sly0.coo-an enormous sum.
considering its size.
NJ. Mckay Twombiy has a set of
FIVE pieces Of Flemish tapestries for
which he paid $4,000. and Z. T. Bsr.
nev has tour pieces for which he gave
the same amount. Mrs Charles T.
sprague. OF Boston. paid $4,000 for
three pieces OF Flemish tapestry. and
Bayard Thayer. of the same city. has
a collection that almost rivals that in
the Whitney house for beauty and cost
James Henry Csileno Smith bought.
at the sale OF the Marquand collection
in this city last year. n Flemish
tapestry for which he paid $1,000 The
tapestries sold at that time brought
considerably more than 100000. the
record for a public sale in this country.
The finest tapestry in the world is
owned by ]. Pierpont Morgan. but IL
may never come to this country. owing
to the prohibiuve duty imposed on such
things. He paid 10000 for Il. and
keeps Il In his London home. from
which Il was taken at the coronation
Of King Edward VII to aid In the dec
grafton OF Westminster Abbey.
One OF the curious things about
these old tapestries Is that ordinary
usaee improves them. IL has been
shown In many instances that where
they have been kept in rooms seldom
opened to the air and sunlight the
colors OF the fabrics have d~eteriorated
so much as to make them less valuable
they otherwise would have been
The tapestries OF the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries heretofore have
been the ones most eagerly sought after
by collectors, but at the present day
the rare ones OF the fifteenth century
are most I'm demand. Owners OF the
few OF them In existence can ask any
price they please and set It; but 1t Is |