Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-08
STOLEN ART WORKS
SELDOM LOCATED
Few Cases of Restoration Like
That of the mona /
Lisa"
MANY OBJECTS HELD 7
IN PRIVATE GALLERIES
Thefts of Books and Manuscripts
Are the Most Easily
Perpetrated.
ecial Correspondence of The Star.

Perpetrated.
Special Correspondence of The Star
LONDON, December 81, 1913.
1t Is seldom that noted objects of art
which have attracted the attention of tho
civilized world at the time of their disap-
pearance have ever been recovered. There
are, OF course, instances like that OF the
beautiful Mona Lisa where the stolen
work OF art has been run to Garth, but
in the great majority of cases the disap-
pearance is as complete as il the precious
object had been ruthlessly destroyed
The question is often asked, What be-
comes of them?' but a satisfactory an
swer to this query is very difficult to get.
Many years Observation-Disclosures CEN
turies-stolen art treasures turn up in
some obscure European or American mu-
scum, having in the course of the years
passed through many hands. Cases like
this. however. are extremely rare.
AS a general rule it may be taken for
granted that stolen works of art are lost
to view in private collections, which are
daily increasing in number and are often
equal in value to those of many public
institutions. An illustration Ia point is
that Of the late J. Pierpont Morgan,
represented many millions of dollars. The
famous financier bought the now cele-'
brated Ascoli cope in good faith, paid a
large sum for 1t in ignorance of the
means which had placed 1t on the market
and, inasmuch as its former possessor
had every inducement to prevent the
knowledge of its loss becoming known, II
might have been in Mr.. Morgan's priv
lite collection till this day had he not
lent it, along with other exhibits, to the
y, Cd,
noisseur of art who had seen it at Ascoli
recognized 1t and thus announced to the
world the fact that 1t had been stolen
Mr.. Morgan at once restored the cope to
the Italian government, bearing the loss
without a word.
Case Only Isolated One.
The instance Of Mr.. Morgan's restitu-
ton Of the Ascot cope is. however. mere
ly an isolated one, and there must be
thousands of stolen pieces figuring in
private collections throughout Europe and
America, particularly on the American
side of the Atlantic, where owners are
more chary about admitting strangers to
visit their galleries. 1t is well known
fact that stolen works of art undoubtedly
find their way to the levant and TO the
orient In the same manner as do famous
jewels that are too well known to con-
being disposed OF in Europe. At the
time Of the Arab rebellion in Egypt the
looting Of the residences of wealthy ma
tives had the effect Of bringing into the
market all sorts of magnificent examples
of the jewelers.. the goldsmith's and the
miniaturist's art.
Many of these objects, discovered in
the bazaars of Alexandria and Cairo, had
been taken from the houses of wealthy
Egyptians, and were afterward recog-
v~fv ks41- f-l~
viously had mysteriously disappeared
from famous collections throughout
Europe. The same thing was discovered
at Tientsin and Picking during the attack
on these cities at the time of the Boxer
rebellion and march of the allied armies.
There can be no doubt that in the pal
aces. and especially in the zenanas of the
native rulers of India and Turkey, many
priceless art treasures which have been
the prey Of the craftsman are to be
found.
Home Market Impossible.
For the picture thief to find market at
home for the disposal of his valuable
booty is well-nigh impossible, and one is
almost compelled to regard his successes
as wasted labor. The uselessness of
Gainsborough's famous Duchess of Dew
onshire" portrait is remarkable instance
of this. On the 9th of May, 1876, Messrs.
Agnew purchased at Christie's this ia
nous masterpiece by Gainsborough. pay
ing for it the sum of $51, 900. Several days
later they placed the picture on exhibit
ton at their Bond street galleries. Fri
day, May &c. when the galleries were
opened in the morning, the attendants
found that the Duchess of Devonshire''
portrait had disappeared. All that was
left of 1t was an empty frame, against
which leaned the wooden stretcher which
had once held the canvas.
The picture had been deftly cut away
with a sharp instrument. leaving only the
tiniest fragment of canvas behind. 1t
was proved conclusively that when the
attendants locked up the galleries on the
previous evening at the hour of closing
the picture was intact. But clever as the
gang of crackSmen were, they derived no
benefit from their exploit For twenty
five years the famous canvas disappeared
from the eyes of the world and was kept
in hiding in some obscure slun. In 1901,
through the instrumentality of Pat Shec-
dy, 1.-The honest crook the masterpiece
was returned to its rightful owners and it
was ascertained that the actual thief was
one Adam Wirth, son of an Americanized
German. A year after its restoration
Wirth died in London in comfortable cir
cumstances in a house near Regents
Park.
Thefts Easily Perpetrated.
The kind OF thefts most easily perpe-
trated and most difficult to detect are
those of books and manuscripts Rob-
berries of this kind are constantly being
carried out, and not long ago priceless
Of BODIES super Canticorum''
of the thirteenth century disappeared
from the library in Gray's Inn without
any trace of it ever having been dis
covered.
The most famous thief of this kind
was the distinguished mathematician and
scientist, Guglieimo Libri who, at the
age of thirty, was elected a member Of
the Institute Of France. and whose mar
riage to the sister of Baron Double, the
great bibliophile, attracted world wide
interest Libri was himself great book
lover. and had a craze for famous manu-
scripts and rare volumes. At his instiga-
ton the French government appointed n
to prepare a catalogue of all
existing historic treasures of this kind
in the various libraries of France, and
he himself was appointed PRESIDENT.
Begins His Pillaging.
Libri then began a diligent and
methodical rdllaging of all these insti-
tutes, substituting worthless manuscripts
for the originals. The extent of his raw
ages will never be quite known. 1t is.
however known that in 1915 he sold
over seyenty-five Thousand dollars worth