The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-12-13

golden pyx of rare workmanship
The gold in it alone would melt
down for 5000 francs.
The pyx had been especially
made and presented by a pious bene'
factor Of the church to a Spanish
religious order, but with the condl.
ton that the order never part with
it. However, the Order probably
had need of money. At any rate the
pyx was offered to the Louvre be-
fore it came to tae notice Of Baron
Pichon. And the Louvre spurned it
"Well; after Baron Pichon bought
j: it was sent to England, and later
went to London museum at price
of 100000 francs. Heirs Of the orr
einal donor tried to force Baron
Pichon by law to return the pyx to
the Spanish Order, but the Baron
won the case.
Zone day I met on the Boulevard
one Of my friends, who is part Of thu
administration of our fine arts de-
partment, and I asked him if it was
true that the pyx had been offered te
the Louvre. He looked foolish and
said yes.
'Hah! You deserve to be flog-
ged' I cried at him.
But from those accounts Of the
true works Of art which traverse the
market Of the aatiquaries and Of the
gentlemen dealers, the talk passes tc
the forgeries Of all kinds which not
only stuff the collections Of the
amateurs, but find their way into the
great museums and even dot tae mod
est acquisition of the occasional buy
Ell.
There are, as is we'll known, not on
" the great houses, where reproduc'
tions are openly made, but hidden
chambers, where the fabrication OF
false antiques is industriously car
ried on, and whence the resultant
work is carried surreptitiously and
planted for the future education OF
the innocent as we'll as the liberal re-
numeration Of the workman.
An interesting example of the care
and pains which these quiet swindl'
ers take to land their fabrication:
where generous prices are likely tc
reward their cleverness and their in
eenuity is told by Pere x. One OF
Pere KS friends, on whom he was
calling one recent evening. asked the
antiquary to look at some veritable
finds which the host was most proud
to display.
The finds were Of copper and OF
carved wood, excellently worked
They had an ancient aspect, but they
we're, as Pere x promptly told his
friend, altogether modern. The host
declared it impossible, until Pere X
proved it to him.
Heart-broken, he then exclaimed
"Why, I found those in Brittany, II
the homes Of peasants and others
from whom I bought them myself
and the owners were cherishing then
as having been in their families many
years through generations.
Pere x and the saddened, but WIS
er, Paris amateur made an investiga'
ton. They found that these false
antiques were. being made by the, doz'
en- in small room, near the Place
de Ia Nation, here in Paris, and that
the swindlers then distributed then
over those regions of Brittany. where
the wealthy and fashionable Paris
ians go during the summers.
The false antiques were jutlicious,
ly scattered among the homes Of the
natives, who were promised, and
paid, you may be sure, liberal com
missions on the high prices they were
Informed would readily be paid fol
these objects by the moneyed visitors
Of the summer time. The natives
soon found this a lucrative industry
which involved little labor, and were
glad to further it; natives, whose
home lands are invaded in the sum
mer by urbanites, being much tnt
same the world over and looking up
on the summer visitor chiefly as good
to be plucked.