Miscellany [pp. 134-139]

Miscellany.
ny subscriptions, is to be erected on
Primrose Hill, near London.
The sale of the celebrated Pourtal~s
collection at Paris has been the all-absorbing art topic abroad. The gallery,
at last accounts, was daily crowded with
representatives from all parts of Europe,
and the prices surpassed the estimates
of the experts. The value set upon the
whole collection was upward of 3,000,000 francs, but that sum will probably
fall far short of the real total. The
bronzes and terra-cotta occupied four
days, and produced over 150,000 francs.
The following are among the most remarkable items: A very small statuette
of Jupiter, found at Besanvon in 1820,
8,000 francs; another small statuette of
the same, seated, formerly in the Denon
collection, 12,000 francs; the celebrated
statuette of Apollo, supposed to date
from the sixth century B.c., from the
Neri collection, 5,000 francs; small statuette of Minerva, arms missing, found
at Besancon, 19,200 francs; armor found
at Herculaneum, and presented by the
Queen of Naples to Josephine, purchased by the Emperor for 13,000 francs;
a small Roman bust, supposed by Visconti to be a Balbus, bought for the
Louvre for 4,550 francs; a tripod, found
in the ruins of the town of Metapont,
and described by Panofka, purchased
for the Berlin gallery, 10,000 francs; fine
old Roman seat, in bronze, bought for
the Louvre, 5,300 francs; vase firom
Locres, 7,000 francs; another vase, found
in one of the tombs of the Vulci, 9,000
francs.
At the sale of the collection of the
Marquis de Lambertye, in Paris, a charming work by Meissonier, "Reynard in
his Study, reading a Manuscript," was
purchased for 12,600 francs; had it not
been for the effect of the Pourtales sale
on the art market, the work would have
fetched considerably more money. It
was purchased of the artist himself, for
16,000 francs, by the late marquis. Another and smaller picture, not six inches
by four, also by Meissonier, was sold on
the same occasion-subject, "Van de
Velde in his Atelier "-for 7,020 francs.
In the same collection were four works
by Decamps, whose pictures are in great
request. One of these, an Eastern landscape, sold for 15,500 francs; another, a
small work, a peasant girl in the forest,
for 4,240 francs; and two still smaller
and less important works, "Tide Out,
with Sunset," and " Gorges d7Ollioule,"
for 1,500 francs each. Three small works
by Eugene Delacroix, a "Tiger attacking a Serpent," "Combat between MIoors
and Arabs," and "The Scotch Ballad,"
sold, respectively, for 1,820 francs, 1,300
francs, and 2,300 francs. A minute picture by Paul Delaroche, "Jesus on the
Mount of Olives," sold for 2,200 francs;
Diogenes sitting on the edge of an immense jar, holding his lantern, by G/r6me, 1,950 francs; and "Arnauts at
Prayer," by the same, 3,900 francs. " The
Beach at Trouville," by the lately deceased painter, Troyon, 4,000 francs, and
"Feeding the Poultry," by the same,
4,850 francs.
At the sale of a collection of the
works of M. Cordier, the sculptor, who
has earned considerable popularity by
his variegated works, composed of marbles, onyx and bronze, and variously
tinted and decorated, a marble statue,
called "La Belle Gallinara," sold for
4,100 francs; a young Kabyle child carrying a branch loaded with oranges, in
Algerian onyx and bronze, and partly
colored, 3,000 francs; an Arab woman, a
statue of the same materials as the preceding, intended to support a lamp or
candelabrum, purchased by the Duc de
Morny for 6,825 francs.
There is a report that the collections
of pictures and curiosities belonging to
the Comte de Chambord will shortly be
dispersed by the hammer in Paris.
The scaffolding before the north front
of the cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris,
has been removed, and the facade, with
the magnificent Gothic window, forty
feet in diameter, can now be seen to
great perfection, all the rich sculptures
having been admirably restored.
A Paris letter says: "The celebrated
painting of the'Assassination of the
Bishop of Liege,' by Eugene Delacroix,
was recently sold at auction at 35,000
francs. The' Death of Ophelia,' in pencil, by the same painter, was knocked
down for 2,020 francs, which was considered a large sum for a sketch.' St.
Louis at the Bridge of Taillebourg,' in
water-colors, fetched 3,100 francs. Some
copper-plates engraved by Eugene Delacroix himself were likewise sold.
At the sale of the collection of the
Chevalier de Knyff, at Brussels, the Virgin with the host and surrounded by
angels, by Ingres, was withdrawn at
28,500 francs.
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