Monday, 12 June 2017

John Hewett


The reported collecting history of the stele in the Sotheby's sale (lot 8, at the 12/6/2017 Sotheby’s antiquities auction in London.) is odd as David Gill notes: 'the fragment appears to have been provided with a falsified collecting history (that can be traced back to the 2008 sale at Sotheby's':
John Hewett, Bog Farm, Kent, 1960s New York art market, acquired from the above on November 3rd, 1980 American private collection American family trust (Sotheby’s New York, December 10th, 2008, no. 28, illus.) acquired by the present owner at the above sale
There is a 'Bog Farm' in Smeeth, Ashford TN25 6QX. Who was this John Hewett?  Presumably this guy -  . He had a range of items, including stone things, like this broken-off corbel ('acquired in London' - ummmm) and this knocked-off head of Apollo sold at Christies in 2015 , also  this bronze and some other stuff; (here too). Here is one handled by Hewett, now in the getty, with a much better collecting history - but in the light of the Sothheby's mixup, we might be justified in asking whether it is real. He handled paintngs too.


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