Death of An Elgin Marble
“They had been putting paintings, sculpture, tapestries, jewels of every sort under the hammer for nearly two hundred years. Their publicity claimed they could give you a quotation and a sale on everything from a Fragonard painting to a Fabergé egg. They cultivated an air of effortless grandeur, as if they were of a superior race to the people whose possessions they were selling. They were all, Powerscourt had decided long before, pretending to be patricians, patricians fallen on harder times perhaps, but still patricians sent down to earth to rule the waves and confound Britannia’s enemies.
All these meetings with the art dealers and the auctioneers blurred into one after a time. He would be met in the reception area by a pretty girl, straight out of a grand country house in the Home Counties, and taken to the junior gatekeeper. The junior gatekeeper was usually aged between twenty-five and thirty and was already acquiring the superior patina that was the hallmark of the company. From... this small but elegant room he would be taken to the senior partner’s office three floors above with splendid views out over Mayfair.MoreLess
All these meetings with the art dealers and the auctioneers blurred into one after a time. He would be met in the reception area by a pretty girl, straight out of a grand country house in the Home Counties, and taken to the junior gatekeeper. The junior gatekeeper was usually aged between twenty-five and thirty and was already acquiring the superior patina that was the hallmark of the company. From... this small but elegant room he would be taken to the senior partner’s office three floors above with splendid views out over Mayfair.MoreLess
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