CH: Tell me about the bronze sphinx
statue set against the wall at the
staircase.
JPM: The extraordinary statue of Antinous
is a marble copy of an 18th century original
(one of a pair) that I own and that are in
the library of my townhouse in New York,
These were originally standing with 10
others in the ���Egyptian Hall��� at Pavlosk,
in Pushkin near Saint Petersburg, a
palace built by�� �� Charles Cameron under
the instruction of Catherine the Great for
her son the Grand Duke Paul and his wife
Maria Fedorovna, future Emperor Paul the
1st. These were sold in the 20���s by the
Bolsheviks and ended up in a villa in the
south of France owned by Prince Galitzine.
I was able to buy two of these in London,
CH: Remind me again about the Amber
Room story.
JPM: The Russian Minister of Culture once
asked me if I could help in developing work
and products for the large number of amber
craftsmen who restored the spectacular
Amber Room at the Catherine Palace,
which had been stolen by Hitler. They
are now making jewelry and many other
things. But there is a real need to keep
the skills learnt during the restoration of
that great room alive. If we don���t promote
craftsmanship, it will be lost.
HYLAND
