LINLEY COLLECTION

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21184, 3 November 1938, Page 9

LINLEY COLLECTION

REMARKABLE WORKS TO BE SOLD AT AUCTION The remarkable collection of art and craft treasures made by the late Mr George H. Linley, Wellington, is to be offered for sale at auction as a result of a decision by the beneficiaries under the will. Probably there is no collection so artistically Interesting and covering such a wide range of expression in New Zealand. M!r Linley was a master craftsman in woodwork. His work was so fine that as far back as 1889 he exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, and there is a sealed certificate giving him an award of honour for his skill, so that when Mr Linley saw a good piece he was able to measure its worth. The collection was inspected by Lord Bledisloe when he was Governor-Gen-eral of New Zealand, and he expressed amazement that there should be such a collection in this part of the world. A selection from the collection was exhibited in the Dominion Museum. There is among the furniture a Sheraton cabinet, a Sheraton case, and two fine eighteenth-century grandfather clocks by reputed makers. There Is also the table on which it is said the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. With this table is the whole of its history, and a list of those through whose hands it has passed, so that there is little doubt of the authenticity of this notable and historic piece. There are also inlaid cabinets, tables of rare forkmanship and a velvet-lined case containing miniature portraits of the earlier Popes on small porcelain plaques, which are said to be the best work of Josiah Wedgwood. Tire collection includes several French Buhl clocks of fine workmanship, Russian ikons, rare pictures, and an etching of Charles Darwin, signed by himself. Looking over these treasures one regret persists—that they could not be retained as a collection. Mr Linley’s cottage, known as the “Kankey Street Museum,” was a storehouse of these rarities of refined workmanship. If displayed under favourable conditions the collection would perpetuate the memory of one who gave the whole of his life to the pursuit of beauty In art and draftsmanship.