The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1937-05-28
AN ADVENTURE WITH ANTIQUES

sometime IN the rail- OF 1884 one
of my neighbors brought me for sale
two metal plates, which subse-
nquently learned at the National
Museum in Washington, d. c., were
called panels; 80 called for the rea-
son that these panels had been
framed or set in frame work There
were also two rings soldered to the
frame work, so the panels could be
suspended by cords or wires. Evil
IDENTIFY they had been hung on the
side of an open fire place.
These panels he claimed to have
found in secret chamber in the
oldest house in Pilot, and some one
told him they were worth 100000.
1t was further said that the only
similar ones were at Mount Vernon.
l took powers of attorney from
him, with the right to dispose of the
panels as / might see fit.
l knew Col. Dodge, the Superin-
tendent of Mt. Vernon, and he invit-
ed me to come and see what was
there in this line. But as soon as
he saw my brasses or panels, he said
there was nothing like them. What
Mt. Vernon had were plaques of
bronze.
Col. Dodge was kind enough to
give letter to some workers in brass
in Washington. They called in a
party, who said what l had was an
English version of some Italian work
They also said that my brasses had
very little value, although they were
clearly works of art But they sent
me to the National Museum. The
curator said that these panels were
probably from designs by the emin-
ent English artist Landseer.
l then started out to- see what the
antique dealers of Washington
thought of my wares. First man l
saw offered me $1,000 each, and l
took the panels away without saying
a word to MIN.
That was, the best offer which 1
had, and l visited the antique dealers
of Baltimore without bid. 1t was
some job carrying these heavy metals
in hot weather.
sent them to Henry Ford, who
has a museum at Dearborn, Mich.
He was not interested, preferring to
buy corsets, sap buckets and the
sacred soil on which Edison trod.
1 tried York, Pa; the great mu-
scum in New York City, and while
got no encouragement from any
quarter, no one had ever seen a
duplicate of my brasses l say mine,
because l bought out the original
owner; the one who imagined their
worth at 100000.
have been trying to trace the Or
igin of these artistic works. l wrote
the U. S. Consul, at London, asking
him to get me the address of some
antique dealer in London. He did
not reply. Then l wrote the London
P. o. Dept, enclosing a dine for
reply, which came at once, but the
London Antique dealer referred me
already seen.
However, the Victoria and Albert
Museum in South Kensington, exam
ined the records and could find no
evidence that Landseer ever designed
any work of this kind.
Plainly, one of these metal pieces
has the metal cast in relief of an
English hare, a pheasant, part
ridge and a game bag. The margin
has English oak leaves and acorns.
This is the game piece.
The fish panel has in relief pike,
several fiat fishes, lobster, an eel
and net with floats.
AS works of art l think they are
high value.
And l do not think they can be
duplicated in the U. S.
They deserve a place in some great
museum.
How these works of art got into
this country l do not know. The
English woman who last owned them
did not know. Her sister did know,
but she is dead. But she said "they
are an old family heirloom of great
value.
A. H. ABBOTT,
Conowingo, Md.