A PEER'S ARMOUR. LORD CHESTERFIELD AND A CURIO DEALER.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 88, 15 April 1911, Page 9

A PEER'S ARMOUR. LORD CHESTERFIELD AND A CURIO DEALER.

REMARKABLE ACTION. (From Our Own Correspondent). LONDON, 3rd March. An action arising out of the disposal of a valuable suit of armour worn by an ancestor of Lord Chesterfield, Lord Steward of the King's Household, was heard this week in the Chancery Courts, when Lord Chesterfield asked that the sale of the armour to Mr. George K. Harding, a dealer in curios, of St. James's-street, should be set aside. The armour was said to have been made for one of the plaintiff's ancestors by Topf, armourer to Queen Elizabeth. I The ground of action was that the sale was procured by the fraudulent misrepresentation of the defendant's son, that it was being purchased on behalf of a private collector, and that £2000 was its fair value, whereas it was being bought for the dealer himself, who subsequently offered it to an American collector for £15,000. Mr. Astbury, K.C., said that Mr. Harding's only chance of getting the armour was to get it before the Holme Lacey sale, at which it was to be offered. His son- called to see Lord and Lady Chesterfield on 28th January, and told them he was instructed on behalf of a private collector who had taken a fancy to the armour. He had one fad, said the defendant's son, that he would never allow anyone to know what he paid for articles in his collection. If this collector were not able to get the armour before the auction, explained Mr. Harding, Lord Chesterfield would "lose the collector's price." Ultimately Lord Chesterfield sold the armour for £2000, thinking that Harding was merely buying it for a customer, and that that was a fair and proper price. WORTH £20,000. Counsel 6aid that the story of Harding's client was untrue, and a striking thing 6oon occurred. Last spring Mr. Keasley, a collector, heard that the defendant had this 6iiit of armour for sale, and told him he would like to see it. After some hesitation Mr. Harding took Mr. Keasley up to the second floor of his premises in St. James's-street. There the defendant showed him tho suit, and, asked what he was willing to take for it, said he would accept £15,000, although it was worth £20,000. The armour, Mr. Astbury explained, was extremely valuable; in fact, no one knew how much it was worth. It was practically the only suit of armour of its kind in existence, and 'Was described in a book of the South Kensington Museum. AN INDIGNANT.EARL. Lord Chesterfield, giving evidence bearing out his counsel's statement, said he knew there were,'two boxes of armour in the attics of Holme Lacy, but he knew nothing of their value. He asked for £2000 because he thought if he ran the price up to double that offered by Mr. Harding he would Slave done a stroke of business. Mr. Duke, K.C. : How soon did you repent of your bargain? — Within a few hours of the time I made it. Plaintiff added that he consulted his solicitor as to the strongest language he could use to Mr. Harding without being liable for olander. (Laughter.) He asked whether he ;ould call him a thief. He would have liked to call him a damned thief. (Laughter.) His solicitor told him he could not. Then- he asked whether he could call him a moral thief, and his solicitor replied that he could, provided there was no third person present. He went to Sir. Harding's shop and caw young Harding and said, "Mr. Harding, I have come to thank you for the extremely good turn you did to me yesterday. You are a nice sort of man to deal with." Evidently seeing he was in a, great temper, Mr. Harding asked him into his private room. They went there, but Mr. Harding "took jolly good care not to shut the door." Lord Chesterfield eaid : "I have come to tell you that in. my opinion you are nothing more or less than a moral swindler. I n^ver ought to have you that armour for £2000." Mr. Harding replied "I should have had you in any case, because you promised to sell it at that." Witness then left the room, fifing off pome paTting shots so that the men in the shop might know his opinion of Mr. Harding (Laughter.) Lady Che&terfidd, in her evidence, said she was assured by Mr. Harding that the price he had given was more than could be got at a public sale. Mr. Harry Wareham Harding gave a categorical denial to the statements made by Lord Chesterfield. The Judge said, in his opinion, young t Mr. Harding was anxious to acquire this armour, and was anxious to acquire ib before the auction. He was quite satisfied that the misrepresentations alleged were made and made with the object of obtaining th© withdrawal of the goods from competition at the sale. His Lordship held that there was no answer to the Earl's contention that a 1 contract obtained by a trick of this kind could not be upheld, but must be set aside, and he ordered the delivery up of the armour on the Earl repaying the £2000, with interest at five per cent., and any reasonable expense incurred by the defendant for repairs. The defendant was ordered to pay the costs.