ART COLLECTION BOUGHT

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21363, 4 January 1935, Page 9

ART COLLECTION BOUGHT

OWNER'S GENEROUS OFFER ACCEPTED HALF SUM TO BE PAID SOON (BBITISH OWICIAI. WIEELBSS.) (Received January 3, 5.5 p.m.) RUGBY, January 2. The famous Eumorfopoulos collection of Chinese and Far Eastei-n works of art has been acquired for the nation by the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum jointly. This collection, which is one of the most extensive of its kind, is celebrated throughout the world for the quality and rarity of its specimens. Sculptures, metal work, jades, gold, silver, glass, ivories, lacquer, paintings, pottery, and porcelain are all included and whole groups are represented of which the national collections until now have contained few or no examples. The total price for which the collection was offered was £IOO,OOO and a preliminary payment of nearly half that sum will be made in a few days. The collection will be exhibited as soon as possible and loans from it later will be available for leading museums outside London. Helpful contributions toward the initial payment were received from the National Art Collections Fund, Sir Percival David, and the Universities China Committee. The collection represents 30 years of work by Mr George Eumorfopoulos, F.S.A.. a member of a firm of Greek merchant bankers, who lives in London. He was born at Liverpool 71 years ago. Compared with the value of the collection, the "Manchester Guardian" says the sum of £IOO,OOO is so ridiculous that the sale becomes a princely gesture. "The Times" describes the collection as literally priceless, and says that Mr Eumorfopoulos, in allowing it to be bought at such a figure, ranks as a great benefactor to the national museums.