New-York tribune., 1912-01-20
BRIC-A-BRAC BARGAINS
Important Decision of the Paris
Court of Appeal.
Paris, January L.

Paris, January II.
The Paris Court Of Appeal has just
pronounced judgment in a case concern
ing the purchase Of antiquities and OBJ
jects Of art which is of great interest to
Americans, who nowadays rarely leave
Paris without taking away some souve-
mir I'm the shape Of piece Of old fur
niture or bit OF bric-A-brac. The Judg-
ment rendered by President Valabregue
Of the Second Chamber Of the Appeal
Court is very severe upon the dealers.
It establishes the principle that when a
piece OF furniture or object OF art has
been purchased by an amateur on the
strength Of the Dealers guarantee that
the object Is old, the sale can be subse-
quently annulled and the purchase
money must be refunded II It can be
proved by the evidence OF two experts
that the object is not genuine or has
been tampered with, or, in other words,
subjected 10 "truquage." The object
must be Just as it was when 1t left the
hands of the original artist. Moreover.
II piece Of bronze, even Of old bronze
has been applied to a piece of old fur
niture for which It was not originally
intended the sale can be made void.
The case In point is Of great practical
interest, and the decision OF the Court OF
Appeal establishes n new rule and re-
verses the decisions OF the lower courts.
The facts OF the case are as follows:
Nj. Lucien Desmarais. a wealthy anna
teur art collector, lives in a beautifully
furnished house, No. II Rue de la Fai-
sanderie, near the Bois de Boulogne. In
1906 he bought Of an extremely we'll
known Paris antiquity dealer a clock
which the dealer guaranteed to be OF
eighteenth century make, and for which
NJ. Desmarais paid $1,000 in cash.
Shortly afterward NJ Desmarais pur-
chased OF the same dealer a terra Gotta
statuette by Clodion, with a guarantee
as % its being genuine. for which he
paid $4,000. The clock was in mar
queterie OF rosewood. ornamented with
gilt bronze, and surmounted by a statu-
ette OF Diana the Huntress, with her
dog.
When the clock was placed In the
library at NJ. Desmarais's house a mis-
hap occurred. The case. not being firmly
fastened TO the pedestal, fell TO the floor,
and panel of marqueterie was de-
tached, 80 that repairs had 10 be made
With the advice OF the dealer NJ. Des-
marais sent the clock 10 a skilled work.
man named Longueval, who in turn
took Il 10 Straet. a 'restorer Of objects
OF antiquity" While the clock was in
Straet's workshop a fire broke out and
destroyed all the combustlble objects.
The appraisers OF the insurance COM
pany in which Straet was insured made
an investigation 10 determine the value
of the clock, and examined the bronze
parts OF II. which had not been destroyed
by the fire. The experts came 10 the
conclusion that the bronzes We're mod
ern. and that consequently the clock had
been tampered with. or been subjected to
"truquage" They estimated that the
value of the clock before the fire was
$500.
the dealer. He said to him: You sold
me the clock for $1,000 with your
guarantee of its authenticity. Compe-
tent experts have decided that the clock
was not genuine. The sale under these
circumstances is void. Anyway, / de-
mand that judicial experts he appointed
TO settle the question. and insist that
the bronzes saved from the fire be sub
mitted to them"
Moreover. the suspicious Of NJ. Des-
marais being aroused. he demanded that
the experts should also decide whether
or not the statuette for which he had
paid $15,20O was by Clodlon. The case
was brought before the Tribunal of First
Instance. and the judges decided against
NJ. Desmarais on the ground that the
opinions Of the insurance experts were
not sufficiently conclusive to cause a
presumption that the clock as a whole
was not authentic and what the dealer
represented 1t to be. This judgment was
reversed on appeal TO the Supreme Court,
when Judge Valabregue pronounced the
uHdnlUlOuS JuuBInenI Oh the 1ull DenCn,
which was in NJ. Desmarais's favor. Civ
ing validity to NJ. Desmarais's demands
and establishing the principle already set
forth, which causes quite commotion
among Paris art dealers and makes
them very reluctant to guarantee the au-
tbenticity of the objects they offer for
sale.
This decision OF the Court OF Appeal
settles the question once for all, and
Americans who intend indulging their
fancies for objects OF art, porcelain fur
niture, jewelry and other articles that
are not modern-that Is to say, which
date from periods not later than the
reign Of Charles X (say 1S30)-will find
1t to their advantage to bear in mind
this judgment when they make bargains
with Paris art dealers. c. l. b.
NINE. DE THEBES.
From The London Globe.
At the approach of winter the pro-
I