Couple claim art dealer undersold their French masterpiece by millions
AN ARISTOCRATIC couple have taken an art dealer to the High Court over the sale of a “masterpiece” from their family collection.
Trustees of the Wemyss Heirlooms Trust are claiming damages against Simon C Dickinson Limited (SCD).
They allege the £1million sale of the painting, purportedly by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin was conducted in a “shoddy manner”. It later sold for £9million.
Amanda Feilding, the Countess of Wemyss and March and one of the trustees, is suing the dealer claiming the trust is entitled to money it lost out on from the sale.
Her husband James Charteris, the Earl of Wemyss and March joined her at court in London on Thursday.
The case centres on a version of Chardin’s Saying Grace which was bought in 1751 by the Earl’s ancestor Francis Charteris.
Simon Dickinson, director of SCD, believed there were limited opportunities to sell the painting due to an expert’s view that it was not wholly by the French artist.
After a “light clean”, he helped arrange the sale of the artwork to Verner Amell, in July 2014 for £1.15million.
Six months later, the painting was bought for £9.3million by a family trust of the former chairman of financial advisers Lazard, the late Michel David-Weill.The court was told the re-sale came after a “Chardin” signature was discovered following a deep clean.
Lady Wemyss, bringing her case with fellow trustee Vilma Ramsay, argues the trust is entitled to the difference between the July 2014 price and that which would have been obtained if the painting had been sold “as a Chardin at its actual market value”.
Andrew Onslow KC, representing the trustees, said in written arguments the SCD sale had been “conducted in an unprofessional and shoddy manner; at extreme and unnecessary speed”.
He added: “The likeliest explanation...appears to be an initial failure of research, a fixed but insupportable view of the leading expert’s opinion of the painting... and Mr Dickinson’s unjustified assumption of the role of expert arbiter.”
Lawyers for the trustees argued that Chardin expert Pierre Rosenberg was “clear” that he “regarded the painting as being, without qualification, by the hand of Chardin”.
Mr Onslow said that instead of consulting Mr Rosenberg, Mr Dickinson had “assumed the role of expert himself”. SCD denies any negligence. In written arguments before the court, Henry Legge KC, for SCD, said: “The fact that the buyer of a painting is able to find someone who will buy the painting for much more than he paid does not mean that the original seller has acted negligently.”
Giving evidence, Mr Dickinson said: “I still believe the picture is not entirely by Chardin.”
The trial continues.