Letter from Burrington & Boss to Henry Clay Frick, 4 September 1895

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ans'd. 9/16/95
[insignia of St. George on horseback slaying the dragon]
London 4th September 1895.
F. F. BURRINGTON.
M. ROBERT BOSS.
St. George's Gallery,
14 Grafton Street,
one door from
Bond St.
To H. C. Frick Esq.
Dear Sir --
Mr. Burrington has seen the owner of the pictures by Cazin & Rousseau-Dupré, & we now write to give you particulars concerning them. The lowest price for which you could purchase the Cazin would be £1250/./. This is a picture we could strongly recommend to you, for as Mr Burrington remarked, we consider the prices of Cazin will very considerably advance & this is certainly one of his most important works & one by which he personally trusts to his greater fame in the future.
As to the other picture (the combined work of Dupré & Rousseau) the owner has such an exalted opinion of its value, that we really cannot conscientiously recommend it to you. We shall be pleased to hear your decision about the Cazin at your earliest convenience.
We have another subject to speak to you about, which we consider of far more importance than the above & that is the pastel of the "Angelus" by Jean Francois Millet of which Mr. Burrington spoke to you. We have seen the owner of this magnificent work & we think we could secure it for you. It has been pronounced by the most competent critics to be finer than the painting & it has the advantage over the latter, of being absolutely pure & untouched. Such is not the case with the painting which has not only been re-touched, but which is actually in a very bad condition. The painting is about 1/3 larger than the pastel & the latter was purchased in Paris at the Roederer Sale for the sum of 100,000 fcs. To this sum must be added 10% auctioneer's fees. The present owner purchased it from the Dealers who secured it at the Sale, & he sets very great store by it, consequently we do not think it could be purchased for less than £7000/./. Should you in any way entertain this unique & splendid specimen of Millet's work, we think that we could perhaps arrange to bring it out for your inspection.
We beg however to ask one favor of you & that is this: as the picture is not in the market & our client only entertained the sale of it as a
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[insignia of St. George on horseback slaying the dragon]
London ________ 189_
F. F. BURRINGTON.
M. ROBERT BOSS.
St. George's Gallery,
14 Grafton Street,
one door from
Bond St.
2
personal favor to ourselves, he would feel extremely annoyed with us should it become known generally, that the picture was offered for sale, & we would consequently ask you to be so good, should you not in any way entertain it, not to mention that it has been offered to you for sale.
We are naturally in a position to give you the whole history of the picture from its conception.
Awaiting the favor of your reply
We remain Sir
Yours faithfully
Burrington & Boss
P. S. Needless to add that in the event of your caring to see it in America, whether you purchased or not, you would be put to no expense in the matter, as we should be rather glad with a reason for coming out as we should combine the trip with other business.
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