Making a Living in Paris.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1984, 16 April 1906, Page 6

Making a Living in Paris.

Old Mansion Devoted to Selling Spurious Works of Art—Matrimonial Brokerage That Pays. Sooiety in all cosmopolitan cities is a mystery, and in Paris more so than elsewhere, says a London publication. Titles grow here over night. Dukes and counts, princes and princesses arrive from nobody knows where, start large establishments, entertain, and get every thing on credit. One day there comes a crash. And there downfall ia watched with a grim smile by some of the members of the old aristooratic families who have been occasionally asked if they know a Marquise d'Angleys or a Count Kolwski An industry, and a lucrative one, is run on artistic lines, and successfully practiced by a titled mondaine. This lady has an old mansion in the most fashionable quarter; the wood carvings are of the eleventh century; the pictures are portraits of her ancestors by old masters. This makes ah ideal background tor her trade ; for she is in league with dealers, who place here and there in good positions a doubtful Greuze or a pseudoWatteau. The victims are admitted to madame's receptions, and admire and somehow or other get to know that they make an offer for some of the treasures. It is said that the carvings from mantle-piece to ceiling have been sold over and over again, and that a very good income is derived from the pictures. And the society matrimonial broker! The penniless viscount is in search of money to regild his tarnised escutcheon, whilst Mile. Durand, or Duval, the daughter of a retired tradesman, seeks a coronet for her pillow. The society broker brings them together in her falon, and touches a handsome commission when the affair is settled.^ These are specialists, but everybody cannot be a specialist. It requires years of practice, a well known name, and a large clientele, to carry on a prosperoui trade.