Description
A pencil drawing of the same subject ‘Portrait of Mr. Coggeshall’ by Oppenheimer dated Aug 15th, 1902 was sold at Bonhams Knole, on the 6th Sep 2011 for £187 inc. premium. Evidently, Mr. Coggeshall was an art collector as the inscription on the Bonhams drawing testifies: Whitehall Court – to Mr. Coggeshall to keep company to the rest of his collection after an A1 one drawing.
The portrait was sketched by Oppenheimer at the rooms of Julius Spier (1848–1923) Dealer and Manager of S. M. Franck Ltd.
In 1881 Spier was listed in the census records as a China merchant and an associate of Franck. After Spier took control of S. M. Franck in 1909, the company began to supply archaeological material, early ceramics, sculpture, and architectural features to international museums and collectors, including George Eumorfopoulos, Oscar Raphael, Charles Seligman, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British Museum as well as institutions in North America, especially the Royal Ontario Museum. In addition to supplying other dealers with goods, S. M. Franck was at the forefront of filling the demand for early Chinese art during the 1920s and 1930s.
