In olde New York; sketches of old times and places in both the state and the city . way, near Vesey, andthe best art connoisseur in the city. A gentleman intown had a large picture of Esther before King Ahas-uerus, that he had secured at an auction sale, andwhich his wife was desirous of exchanging for twolandscapes at Paffs. Paff good-naturedly made theexchange, but in cleaning up his new purchase dis-covered it to be a genuine Van Dyck. After that hespent about a week to the square inch cleaning andbringing out the original color. Wealthy gentlemen,art patrons, would drop in during the proce
In olde New York; sketches of old times and places in both the state and the city . way, near Vesey, andthe best art connoisseur in the city. A gentleman intown had a large picture of Esther before King Ahas-uerus, that he had secured at an auction sale, andwhich his wife was desirous of exchanging for twolandscapes at Paffs. Paff good-naturedly made theexchange, but in cleaning up his new purchase dis-covered it to be a genuine Van Dyck. After that hespent about a week to the square inch cleaning andbringing out the original color. Wealthy gentlemen,art patrons, would drop in during the process, andoffer to purchase. Paffs first price was $1000, afterthat he rose $1000 on every offer not accepted. LymanReid, the patron of Cole, offered him $7000 for it,which was quickly rejected, Paffs price having thenrisen to $16,000. I was in the store one day with AlfredPell and Lyman Reid when Sir Robert Porter came inand offered Paff $12,000 for the picture, saying he wasauthorized to give that sum and no more by the NationalGallery, of London. Paff refused, and held on to the. ?r. .k-P vj New York in 1827 53 picture till his death. After that event, his widowsold the picture to the National Gallery, it was said,for $20,000. I could give you a volume of reminis-cences about the old American Museum. It had beenremoved to the site of the later Herald Building,and had ruined several owners, when P. T. Barnumgot hold of it and made a success of it. A fence surrounded the Park in those days, withan entrance gate on the west. On the Chatham Streetside were a number of low one-story buildings —cigar shops, beer saloons, and the pawn-shop of WilliamStevenson, the first of the kind ever opened in NewYork. Right opposite, on the corner of FrankfortStreet, stood Tammany Hall, the cradle of the presentfamous organization; the modern sachems, you willreflect, were but papooses then. The Hall was usedchiefly for public meetings of a political cast. Thereal council-room of the braves was
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnewyorkstatehistory
