The over mantel painting set within the wall paneling was so thoroughly
smoke stained (and sported a poker hole!) that it was at first considered
nothing of value. But I hauled it up to a friend that does restoration work
for the Metropolitan Museum and for New York dealers. I strolled into his
upper eastside studio with the painting in a trash bag to protect it from the
drizzle. He threw on his loop, cleaned some dust and ���aahed��� and ���oohed���
a bit before informing me that not only was it by a good Dutch master,
von Storck, but that it was worth a pretty penny. Once cleaned and hole
patched, it found its way back to Blue Ridge Farm.
HYLAND
