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Royall Tyler to Mildred Barnes Bliss, August 16, 1938 [2]

16.VIII.38

Dearest Mildred—I spent last week-end at Antigny. BetbilThe abbreviation for Bettine Tyler and William Royall Tyler. were there, and it would have done you good to see how happy Bill is about the Fogg.William Royall Tyler was interested in enrolling in the museum studies program at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. He was offered the position of unremunerated assistant with post-graduate tuition free. It has transformed him. I always knew how much he cared for objects, but I didn’t realize how he was straining, secretly, at the leash which kept him from devoting himself completely to them. Blessings upon you for making his dream come true.

I cabled yesterday to say that Bill would gladly take over the KhawamKhawam Brothers, an antiquities business that was founded in Cairo in 1862 by Sélim Khawam. gold,BZ.1938.64–65, BZ.1938.66, and BZ.1938.67. if you’d like him to do so. I’m having JannyThis person or company has not been identified. (who made the marriage-beltBZ.1937.33. case) make cases for it.

A letter from Fiedler. Prince L. won’t consider an offer of $5000 for the stag reliefStags and vase relief, probably marble. See Gerd-H. Zuchold, Der “Klosterhof” des Prinzen Karl von Preussen im Park von Schloss Glienicke in Berlin (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1993), 1:1, pl. 122 and 2:148, no. 130. and the two others.Two fragments of a relief, possibly marble, Klosterhof, Schloss Glienicke, Berlin. These are not catalogued in Gerd-H. Zuchold, Der “Klosterhof” des Prinzen Karl von Preussen im Park von Schloss Glienicke in Berlin (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1993). And Tree of Life and three pairs of animals and birds, third quarter of the twelfth century, marble, Schloss Glienicke, Potsdam-Berlin. See Gerd-H. Zuchold, Der “Klosterhof” des Prinzen Karl von Preussen im Park von Schloss Glienicke in Berlin (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1993), 1:pl. 59b and 2:73, no. 52. Nor will he say how much he does want. We’ll have to let him stew for a bit.

F. says he is working hard at Dresden and Gotha, and hopes to have the elements of a proposal soon. He fears he can’t fit all 3 into the $20,000 contemplated. I’m not surprised at that, for the Dresden leaf of the diptych alone might fetch as much as that, en vente public.“At a public sale.” We’ll see what he produces.

I’ve told F. that we won’t make an offer for the Goldene Tafel.Crucifixion, Byzantine, first half of the twelfth century, gold and enamel, Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich. See Klaus Wessel, Byzantine Enamels from the 5th to the 13th Century (Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1967), 166–67, no. 51, pl. 51.

I’m pining to know whether Dodge is going to bring over the ivoryBZ.1939.8. which was spurned by Marquet.

I’m planning to go to Antigny this coming Sat. (20th) and stay till the 28th, with Bill. Elisina is getting on steadily.

I’ve just heard from Hayford, who likes the Elephant-tamerBZ.1927.1. paper,Hayford Peirce and Royall Tyler, “Elephant Tamer Silk, VIIIth Century,” in Three Byzantine Works of Art, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 2 (1941): 19–26. and makes a valuable suggestion. I’ll hold the paper a bit longer, in case any new ideas occur to him or me, and then send it off to you, with the photos for the (about a dozen) plates, so that it may reach you well before the end of Sept.

Love to you, dearest Mildred, and to Robert.

Yrs

R. T.

P. S.

Knowing the YumpsPossibly Tyler’s slang for Swedes. as you do, you’ll appreciate this:

You know that prosperity in Sweden has remained on a very high level, relatively. The Swedes, realizing that it won’t last forever, have been diligently devising all sorts of methods to be employed when the curve starts downwards, so as to avoid a depression. They have lived so much in these preparations that some of them tend to speak of the overcoming of a slump in the past tense—as if it had already happened.

The Governor of the Nt. Bk. of another of the Scandinavian countries, discussing the Swedish anti-slump mechanism, expressed himself somewhat as follows: “It’s marvellous what the Swedes are doing. They’ve stayed on the upward curve longer than anyone else. More than that, they’ve got everything ready, all taped, to prevent them from being switched onto the downward curve, and to keep them moving upwards. All calculated out in the minutest detail. It’s unprecedented, most impressive. The only possible flaw is—that they believe it all.”