Saleroom practice
Sir: I have only just seen your edition of 22 October. While it would be churlish not to acknowledge your kind reference to Agnew's in one article, I do have to correct Edward Whitley's description of the purch- ase by the National Gallery of the Wright of Derby, 'Mr & Mrs Coltman', in another. The suggestion is made that, in some way the National Gallery, for whom we acted as agent at the sale, were 'bluffed' into paying a price way beyond what anyone else was prepared to offer. This is quite untrue.
Being only too aware of the possibility of the bidding being run up, by a high reserve, we evolved with the then director of the gallery, an elaborate scheme by which we bid only to a comparatively low level and then dropped out, waiting to see whether there was another real bidder. Indeed there was: Mr John Baskett, the well-known London dealer who frequently acts on behalf of the celebrated American collector, Paul Mellon. The picture was eventually purchased by the National Gal- lery at a price which, though fair to both the seller and buyer, could well have been considerably higher, and was indeed rumoured to be lower than the figure offered to the owner privately, shortly before the auction.
Julian Agnew
Thos Agnew and Sons Ltd, 43 Old Bond Street, London W1
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