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

a 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 pious bene-
Factor Of the church to a Spanish
religious order, but with the condi-
tion that the order never part with
at. However, the Order probably
had need of money. At any rate the
pyx was offered to the Louvre be-
fore it came to the notice Of Baron
Pichon. And the Louvre spurned it!
"Well; after Baron Pichon bought
il it was sent to England, and later
went to Il London museum at price
Of 100000 francs. Heirs of the ori-
ginal donor tried to force Baron
t1chon by law to return the pyx to
the Spanish Order, but the Baron
won the ease.
Zone day [ met on the Boulevard
one of my friends, who is part of the
administration Of our fine arts de-
partment, and I asked him if it was
true that the pyx had been offered TO
the Louvre. He looked foolish and
said yes.
'Hah! You deserve to be floy-
gcd!' | cried at him.
But from those accounts of the
true works of art which traverse the
market of the aatiquarics and of the
gentlemen dealers, the talk passes to
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 thc mod
est acquisition of the occasional buy
eli.
There are, as is well known, not on
~ the great houses. where reproduce
tions are openly made, but hidden
chambers, where the fabrication Of
false antiques is industriously car
ricd on, and whence the resultant
work is carried surreptitiously and
planted for the future education Of
the innocent as well as the liberal re-
enumeration Of the workman.
An interesting example of the care
and pains which these quiet swindI-
ers take to land their fabricatons
where generous prices are likely to
reward their clevcrmcss and their in
"rnuity is told by pcrc X. One Of
Pere KS friends, on whom he was
calling one recent evening. asked the
aatiquary 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
were, as Pere Y promptly told his
friend, altogether modern. The host
declared it impossible, until Perc X
proved it to him.
Heart -broken. he then exclaimed:
"Why, | found those il Brittany, in
the homes Of peasants and others,
from whom I bought them myself,
and the owners were cherishing them
as having been in their families many
ycars-,ycs, through generations.
Pere y 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 la Nation, here in Paris, and that
the swiHdlers then distributed them
over those regions of Brittany. where
the wealthy and fashionable Paris
ians go during the summers.
The false antiques were judicious-
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 for
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 urbanitcs, being much the
same the world over and looking up
on the summer visitor chiefly as good
70 ha rluoko6