MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 January 1928, Page 5

MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY

ART TREASURES TAKEN,

■A fifteenth century painting, valued at £2OOO, and a number of valuable objects of art were stolen between 11 o’clock on a Saturday night and 6 o’clock on a Sunday morning recently from the house of Mr. Percyval TudorHart, a London collector and artist. Many curious circumstances are associated with the disappearance of the art treasures. Mr. Tudor-Hart lives in a large mansion, surrounded by its own grounds, and his house is filled with objects of an artistic “nature. The burglars -appear to have used a ladder which belonged to a builder repairing tin adjacent house. By this means they climbed on to a roof and got through the back staircase window. All the articles missing were taken from the drawing-room on the ground floor, and the burglars got into this room front the inside of the house. Though the door was locked this did not apparently prove any obstacle to them. ' Other valuable objects of art and pictures in the room had not been touched. The value of these is certainly well over £lOOO, and includes a series of Downham pictures. The articles stolen include: A fifteenth century painting on wood, by Baldovinetti, an Italian artist; six Chinese snuff bottles of carved ivory; a pendant drop of pure amber; small cross in gold plaque: and a melanium coin of the Francis Joseph period. The history of the painting is interesting. Before it came into the possession of Mr. Tudor-Hart it belonged to Mr. Maurice Hewlett, the wellknown author. The painting had been taken from its massive gilt frame, the nails which secured it having been carefully extracted, and the frame was lying on the floor when a maid found it as she wont round the house on her early morning duties. The subject is the Virgin and Child. The Virgin is seated on a gold carved chair and wearing a rose-coloured tunic spotted with gold. She holds the Child on a cushion on hei' left knee. The Child is holding a bullfinch with both hands.

The background shows a mountain an’d stream, and in the distance is" a dark sky. %n oriole surrounds both the Virgin and Child, and the picture is engraved with radiation and tooling. The Virgin’s hair is golden, with a white gauze veil falling on the right shoulder.

The missing Chinese snuff bottles belong to the Ming and K’ien-lung period. The first has a design of carved oxen on a blue ground; the second consists of seven boxes on a coloured ground; the third shows a dog playing with balls on a string; and the fourth represents court ladies in a garden. The fifth depicts a Chinese sage seated on a verandah with another sage and a boy in a garden. The sixth is engraved with mother-of-pearl, bordered in lacquer, and it is also laid with mother-of-pearl. All these snuff bottles had been taken out of a line cabinet in the corner of the room, and the other objects had been taken from another cabinet. Otherwise nothing in the room appears to have been touched. Mr. Tudor-Hart said that he strongly believed the thieves had visited his home for the express purpose of stealing the picture. “The works of Baldovinetti,” lie said, “are now extremely rare. 1 bought this example privately in London four or five years ago, and 1 have refused an offer of £3OOO for it. Originally it came from Florence.”

The Chinese snuff-bottles, Mr TudorHart added, seemed to have been selected by men with expert knowledge. No noise was heard, and the intruders got back into the grounds outside in tho same way that they came.