Bisbee daily review., 1907-09-10
ART SALES IN LONDON
Treasure Houses That One May
 Purchase Outright.
A QUEER MODE OF LIVING.
The "GentIenan Dealer" Will Sell You a Chair, the Dining Table or the Whole Room and Then Refurnish For the Next Purchaser.

the Next Purchaser.
 The method of buying and selling ob- jects of art has undergone considerable change during recent years. Formerly the art dealer ensconced himself ex- clusively in shops in fashionable streets in the St. James district and advertised his presence there by sin gle chair in the window or a Japanese vase.
 But the gentleman dealer" has come on the scene. In recent years he has taken away the cream of the trade from the man behind the counter.
 There are in London today perhaps a dozen mansions, magnifcently fur nished, containing great fortunes in pictures, furniture, china and silver, whose owners are willing to part with any ouc of their beautiful possessions at a price, or are ready at all times of the day and night to sell out, lock, stock and barrel.
 There are no signbOards, no adver- tisements, no indication whatever that the house is anything but the resi- dence of a very well 10 do gentleman. There Is no admission to the general public. You must 90 by invitation or introduction. and some of these pri- vate purVeyOrs of antiquities would be extremely annoyed if it became generally known that they are dealers
 The majority of these "gcntlcmpn dealers" are well known throughout the trade and are regarded as the most important men in the business ef buy ing and selling works of art. When ever. therefore, a small dealer has anything tO dispose of or there Is some thing which his limited capital will not permit him to purchase he goes straight to the gentleman dealer" and in turn for the usual commission makes it possible for the latter to be come the pOssessur of the coveted Ob- jcCt.
 So it has come about that the "gcn- tleman dealer" has gradually become the most important figure in this com merce. Not only does he sell !Ou a chair out of his dining room. a Gains borough picture from his walls, val uable piece of Sevres from the Chip pcndale cabinet in the corner or tho linen fold pancling from off the very walls of the entrance hall, but he is prepared to furnish a cottage or a mansion from top to bottom with an tiQuitics.
 It seems rather ridiculous to people who are not aware of this state of affairs, but it is a fact that if you hap pen to be guest in one of these ! houses and you take a fancy to the l saItceilar you may take it for your | own by sending a check for it the next day. or you may have the whole din ing table with all it's treasures, or yOU may have the entire room. including | the carpet. The only. thing you must not take away is the family circle.
 This constant change apparently | gives zest to life in the home of tle gentleman dealer" for his wife never knows whether she will be able to have dinner for her husband served on a mahogany Chippendale table worth
 f2OO or a plain deal shelf, since all the | others have been sold.
 One day they draw up chairs whose value is calculated in enormous fig ures, and the next day they have great
 trouble in finding anything at all to | sit upon.
 There is no important sale anywhere 1 in the country at which the gentle man dealer is not either present in 1 person or represented by any one of l the smaller dealers who are only too | anxious to be of service to him, be cause. be it noted, the man with the
 fine house is able to work with large capital and is therefore competent to make purchases at sales which the i small dealer finds beyond him. ] For every chair or picture sold in l England the gentleman dealer sends | across the water a dozen valuable | pieces. There is a story of fiat near Piccadilly owned by one of these en- terprising men in which four luncheon parties and three dinner parties were | given in one week.
 At each party there was a different | guest, and every time the host sue ! ceeded in selling out the contents of | the entire flat, so that it required a | small army of men to bring in new | furniture for the next luncheon or din
 ner party. The fat was furnished seven times in one week. The owner was so hard put to find new old things to dazzle the eyes of prospective pur- chasers that he had to pay the dealers
 heavy premiums in order to cope with | his business.
 It sounds easy, but it is not, because
 there is nothing more difficult or more
 risky than buying old furniture, old | prints, old china, or in fact anything | old.
 The world is simply flooded with imi
 tations which to the eye of any but the
 most expert are supposed 10 be perfect
 If any one imagines he can become q
 gentleman dealer merely by taking
 an expensive house in Bloomsbury, il
 would be advisable for him first 10 lis.
 ten to the story of the experiences oi
 others who have tried and failed igno
 miniously.
 It requires, first, a most intimate ac | quaintance with the old masters iu
 painting, in furniture, in silver and
 china; secondly, a keen business senss
 which is not to be blunted by the nee
 essaTy but not always harmless dinnci l parties. and. thirdly, a ceurhy mapne;
 which does not suggest buying or sell
 lng at every turn.-London Express
 RESUME LEVEE WORK.