UNDER HAMMER.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 103, 3 May 1929, Page 7

UNDER HAMMER.

PORTLAND VASE. Famous Antique Withdrawn From Sale. BIDDING BEACHES 29.G00G-S. (British Official Wireless.) (Received 1 p.m.)

RUGBY. May 2. j j There was a dramatic surprise at j Christie's saleroom to-day when the j famous Portland ase was put to j auction. In .3.3 seconds the bidding hadj reached 29.000 guineas. It was then | understood T>y the big crowd that the vase had been sold. J A woman wanted to know the name | j of the purchaser as she said the British j public were keenly interested in the j sale of the vase. The auctioneer did not reply and only later was it made j known that the vase had been with- j j drawn. j Buvers from Africa and the Continent j : had been keen bidders against Biitishj j buvers. - I The announcement made in March that i ' the world-renowned Portland ase was to : be sold by auction shocked thousands Oi j art lovers" who had grown accustomed to j regarding that glory of ancient art as an j | irremovable treasure, destined to remain ; !in the British Museum for ever. But most, people had forgotten, ii, indeed, the! present generation ever knew, _ that i although the famous vase has been in the i British Museum since 1810. it was merely ; a loan, having been deposited as such by i i the Duke of Portland in that year. The j i present holder of the title decided to sell j • this family treasure, for reasons not dis- < ■closed. The announcement caused as big; ' a stir as the news did in .184.3 that a I ' demented visitor —on.? Vv iluam Lloyd—had ] | called at the Museum and had smashed the j I vase into a hundred pieces. The story of j ! the vase will always be associated with j i Sir William Hamilton (who married the j j beautiful Emmai, one of the most disi cerning antiquaries in the history of art. i For it was Hamilton who succeeded. ! through his agent. Byres, the architect, in | annexing the vase which had been the i ! pride of the Barberini family, and had i been kept in their palace since it was ! unearthed at Monte del Grano. on the : road to the ancient city of Tuseulum. i about 1382. When the news came that j Hamilton had bought the Barberini Vase j the eccentric Dowager Duchess 'of Portland eagerly awaited his arrival in December. 1754. at his hotel in King Street, near Christie's rooms to-day. After a few secret negotiations the Duchess perj suaded Sir William to part with the vase | for 1800 guineas, but only a few con- ■ ndential friends knew of the transaction. I and the vase was not shown in her celei brated Portland [Museum. This gem of I craftsmanship of Greek origin, probably I about A.D. 69, is of deep-blue glass, with bas-reliefs in sculptured opaque white I glass, illustrating the story of Peleus j wooing Thetis, with figures of Poseidon i and Aphrodite. At one time the vase was j interpreted as the death and resurrection I of Adonis, and even scenes connected with | the Eleusinian mysteries. It is lOin high ! with a circumference of 21% in. When j it was unearthed in 1.352 it was inside a 1 sarcophagus which is now preserved in the | Capitoline Museum.