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Show British Hard Times Fill Auction Rooms years ago, whose works harmonized perfectly with the old country houses are enjoying a boom in prices. The majority of them are practically unknown un-known in America, and are not in demand de-mand there, yet the swiftness with which $2,000 or $3,000 arc bid for pictures pic-tures that went begging on the painter's, paint-er's, hands show that theft if -yet money in England for art. ' Treasures From Country Homes Now on Market London. Sir Rider Haggard writes ' to the Times deploring that the roofs of old English country mansions are rotting and falling in because the owners cannot affdd.to keep hem up and there is no One 40 buy them,, and that with them disappears the old English country life of which they were the center. The contents of these old houses are pouring into the market as they have never done before, and popular belief is that most of these valuable re bought in by London art dealers ' for their American customers. . Even some of the old families which re known to be immensely rich, ac-' ac-' cording to English values, are taking advantage of the high tide of art prices. For example, for sale soon at the famous Christie auction rooms is a group of old masters of world reputation repu-tation put up by the duke of Westminster, West-minster, which includes three pictures by Rubens, forming part of a series said to have been painted by order of Philip IV. to decorate a Carmelite convent; also a Virgin and Child by Vandyke. - Many Other Treasures Sold Other lots offered at Christie's, which combine the value of patrician associations with art are: "Old English furniture and needlework, needle-work, the property of her grace, the duchess of Wellington," and carved oak furniture, the "'property of his grace the duke of Marlborough and removed from a farmhouse on th Blenheim estate." Also porcelains belonging to ttu . Right Hon. Earl Hawe, G. C. V. O.; the Sneyd heirlooms from Keele hall, Staffordshire, which have a romantic flavor and consist mostly of old silver, sil-ver, furniture and porcelains; valuable valu-able collection of pictures left by the late earl of Hardwicke; furniture belonging be-longing to the earl of Sandwich; and few old masters put up by the right honorable, the earl of Clarendon, P.C., G. C B., G. C. V. O. Among the offerings st Sotheby's within the next month are valuable pictures, the property of Lady Edward Ed-ward Grosvenor, Sir John Hippisley, and other articles belonging to the countess of Gosford and Cora countess count-ess of Strafford. Private Bargains Are Made It is many years since sny of the duke of Westminster's collection ol old masters have appeared in the auction auc-tion rooms, although some star picture bas occasionally been sold by a private pri-vate bargain, and treasures from Blenheim Blen-heim have rarely been obtainable in the lifetime of the present duke of Marlborough. The belief that nearly everything sold goes to America is not entirely true. The good old reliable but uninspired unin-spired British landscape artists of 100 |
