In San Marino, Calif., fortnight ago, was Sir Joseph Duveen, semi-Semitic, ornate dealer and author ity in Art. In San Marino lives Maecenas Henry Edwards Huntington (TIME, Nov. 8). Sir Joseph was visiting Maecenas Huntington. When he left (for Manhattan, where his chief gallery is located), announcement was gently allowed to be made that Maecenas Huntington had acquired of Sir Joseph three more 18th Century British portraits—a Gainsborough ("The Hon. Mrs. Henry Fane"), a Reynolds ("The Hon. Lavinia Bingham, Countess Spencer"), a Romney ("Lady Hamilton"). Which Lady Hamilton portrait by Romney was not specified (Romney did 30 of this his onetime mistress, who left him to occupy the same position with Lord Nelson) ; but the U. S., some day to be public sharer in the Huntington collection, was reassured to hear that all three portraits are "outstanding examples of the best work of their masters"—and cost between $500,000 and $1,000,000. By their acquisition, Maecenas Huntington now owns ten Gainsboroughs, nine Reynoldses, twelve Romneys, all of the first rank, a collection which can never be rivaled in this field. Sir Joseph, it was announced, will, after a few weeks in Manhattan, return to the Huntington home shortly after the first of the year.
Last week occurred once more a far-heralded London sale, one of those dispersals of private collections of British nobility so frequent since the War, one of those sales through which Sir Joseph Duveen and others have acquired and brought to the U. S. a rather deep skimming of the cream of British art. Captain Jefferson Cohn, rich turfman (TIME, Nov. 29) had bought the house, but not the famed art collection therein, of Dowager Baroness Michelham, the house once home of the spidery-signatured Marquis of Salisbury, Britain's onetime most aristocratic Premier. The Dowager Baroness Michelham put up the art collection at public auction. International buyers came to the house, with cohorts, many of them, of mysterious agent-bidders, "Mr. X," "Mr. Y," "Mr. Z." Sir Joseph Duveen was in the U. S. But Sir Joseph's in fluence was felt. As often before, he secured most of the cream. He expressed his intention of transferring it to the U. S. Very possibly Maecenas Huntington, who ever seems to know what he wants, will presently receive of the cream the topmost layer, which again very possibly was already contracted for.
The opening day of the auction saw mostly tapestries put up, "knocked down"—though some of these were so impressively rare as to require more respectful handling than that. A Beauvais specimen went to $130,000 before its seekers got discouraged. A Gobelin brought $95,000. This day's sales totaled $780,000.