SALE OF FAMOUS ART TREASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14531, 19 November 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

SALE OF FAMOUS ART TREASURE.

LOSS TO A LONDON MUSEUM.

The Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington,-has suffered the irretrievable loee of a priceless object of art, which, like the Holbein "Duchess" at the National Gallery before its sale to a firm of art dealers, had been so long on loan at the museum that the public and probably the officials of the museum liad come to regard it as a national possession. But while the energy of the National Art Collection Fund, supported by private generosity, was able to save the Holbein for the nation at the eleventh hour, there seems to be little likelihood of Lord Zouche's wonderful enamel reliquary or chasse ever returning to South Kensington. This precious chasse, which is Limoges work of the twelfth century, is traditionally said to have been made for St. Louis of France to contain relics be had brought from the Holy Land. It remained undisturbed at St. Denis until the time of the French Revolution, when the Treasury was rifled. It then came into the possession of Mr. Beck ford, and is engraved in the title page of Britton's "Illustrations of Fonthill." At the Beckford sale in October, 1823, it was purchased for 26 guineas by Anne Countess of Newburgh, who presented it to the Hon. Robert Curzon in December, 1852.

The chasse had been on loan to the Victoria and Albert, Museum for about 37 years, when, on the death of its owner, the late Robert Lord Zouche, the Court of Chancery addressed a circular letter to the most prominent art dealers and private collectors, inviting tenders for the purchase of this reliquary. The whole matter seems to have escaped the attention of the museum authorities, who were not even invited to tender, and to whom it appears to have come as a complete surprise to learn that Mr. Charles Westheimer had purchased their cherished treasure. The actual price paid by Mr. Wertheimer for the Chasse of St. Louis has not been stated. But that it must have been very considerable may be judged from the very high prices given for twelfth or thirteenth century enamels on the exceedingly rare occasions when they appear on the market, the majority of notable examples being in the safe custody of the treasuries of German and French churches. Two years ago, when the Braikenridge collection was sold at Christie's, a ciboriiim that cannot compare with Mr. Wertheimer's chasse as regards importance and value, realised the sum of £6000, and was subsequently sold to Mr. George Hentechel, .tho well-known Paris collector, for £10,000.