Versailles in Manhattan

"I always had it in my soul," Rene Fribourg once said, "to love French 18th century things. It is true that my bedroom is Napoleon I, and my wife's bedroom is Charles X, but most of the rest is 18th century. I love Louis XV and Louis XVI." Until his death at 83 in January, only guests to the white stone Fribourg mansion off upper Fifth Avenue ever saw his big collection of furniture, art objects and painting; now it is to be knocked down at auction. Peter Wilson, suave chairman of the world's biggest auction house. Sotheby's of London, was in Manhattan last week to supervise the cataloguing of the collection, and it will be sold at seven different auctions in London next June and October.

A General's Gratitude. Grain paid the bills for Collector Fribourg's art. Born in Belgium, he lived in Paris until the Nazis were at the gates, finally settled in Manhattan. There his family's century-old grain business had developed into the U.S.-based Continental Grain Co. with dealings all over the world. When World War II was over, Fribourg managed to bring his Paris collection across the Atlantic intact; the German general who occupied his house had evidently become so fond of the Fribourgs' chef's cooking that in gratitude he gave the collection his personal protection.

Fribourg kept on buying until every room in his mansion was a small museum in itself. He lived surrounded by rich inlay, intricately carved paneling, rare porcelains, precious furniture. He could point to a table and say. "That belonged to Marie Antoinette." A magnificent desk with inlay of metal and tortoise shell in ebony had belonged to Queen Victoria. Fribourg's bed was one that Napoleon had had made for himself and Marie Louise; it bears the date of their wedding. Fribourg owned 18th century Gobelin tapestries and Sevres china designed by Boucher; he had 70 rare gold boxes that were once used for snuff or jewelry, of which the best examples could today fetch $20,000 apiece. When Fribourg entertained, he and his guests enjoyed not only the meal but also the museum-quality sets of china it was served on.

A Possible Record. Modern inheritance taxes put collectors in a dilemma; in a large estate, if a collection is bequeathed intact, the heirs must scrape up and give the Government cash equal to as much as 61% of the value of the art--even more in some cases. Fribourg ordered that after his death his collection should be auctioned; if he had left it to his wife, she would have had to raise cash in the millions to keep it. He lamented that he would not be present at the auction. "This will be the biggest sale of the century," Fribourg said, and in a way he could be right. No other collection made up primarily of antiques and rare bric-a-brac (as opposed to great painting and sculpture) has ever brought more at auction than Sotheby's estimate of the value of Fribourg's art: $3,500,000.

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