ENGLAND'S LOSS OF ANTIQUES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16364, 11 June 1927, Page 12

ENGLAND'S LOSS OF ANTIQUES

WHOLESALE EXPORT TO AMERICA

LONDON, April 14,

It is rather melancholy to see the continuous export of English antiquities to America. Famous paintings, unique literary treasures, rare furniture, even an occasional old mansion, carefully dismantled and shipped to the United States for reconstruction, stone by stone, rafter by rafter, and tile by tile; they all form an endless ".chain of exports." If England is unable either to keep or purchase these treasures, the, same can be said for most European countries, principally owing to exchange rates. It is an open quetsion whether Australia in its prosperity could not afford to be a successful competitor at the sales. Her "claim to a share" is .undoubtedly greater than .«. in erica's, and, being a country as yet unpossessed of many antiques of great value, there is no doubt as to the desirability of securing whatever she can afford to pay for. When, on April !>, Messrs Sotheby, the famous London auctioneers, knocked down the last lot of the Britwell library, they completed the most remarkable sale of antique books which any country or any period in history has ever known. The total proceeds from the sale reached the stupendous sum of j;iio4,ooo, and America secured most of the books, pamphlets, and broadsides offered—quantity as well as (,I'iility.

Some of those who know have no hesitation in stating that there were many bargains going, and that America secured four-lifths of them.