Mementos for Americans

As Lot 40 moved to the block one day last week at Sotheby & Co., London auctioneers, the atmosphere became electric. Lot 40 consisted of two small (18 in. by 13 in.) heraldic glass panels. Dated 1588, they bore on the left the coat of arms (three red mullets and red and white bars) of John Washington, George Washington's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Probably made for John's grandson Robert, the panels had stayed in the Washington 16th century Sulgrave Manor for almost 300 years, but recently turned up as kitchen windows in the Northamptonshire home of Litterateur Sacheverell Sitwell, who put them up for auction.

The panels had appeal for curators in both Britain and the U.S. Britons felt that they should go back to Sulgrave; Americans, mindful of the legend that Betsy Ross got the design for the American flag from the stars and stripes of the coat of arms, thought they should be brought to the U.S. With no rich American contingent in sight, the bidding opened at -L-500, moved to -L-1,000 before a young London dealer named Derek Cecil Davis began to bid. By the time the bidding reached -L-2,500, it was between Davis and a dealer named Robert Jack. At -L-3,200 ($8,960), the auctioneer held the gavel in the air for almost half a minute, then knocked Lot 40 down to Davis. Said the sad-faced Jack, who was bidding to return the panels to Sulgrave Manor (a privately operated museum): "A tragedy. We had no chance against the almighty dollar." Davis had bought for the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., which plans to bring the panels to the U.S. without delay.

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