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November 2, 1951

Dear Mr. Milliken:

Mr. Henry S. Francis was kind enough to be willing to take along with him for your inspection the Gold Plaque I had shown him here. Photographs as good as they may be, we know so well, cannot replace the intimate contact and the "feel" a work of art imparts.

On the other hand photographs and particularly enlargements are valuable when they can parallel the study of the actual work of art, and I am thus taking the liberty in the pamphlet you will find herein of including two such enlargements.

There is truly little data I can supply on this plaque, for if the letter you will find herein indicated where the plaque actually was some time ago, it is hardly a pedigree in the meaning implying historical information as to its origin.

Thus, though I did not buy it directly from that source, the plaque was in the collection of Mr. Montre, Bordeaux, from whom Mme. Marin, his sister, inherited and who in turn bequeathed it to a religious and philanthropic organization in the same city.

The letter enclosed in the pamphlet is from Mr. L.L. de Montaigut. You will realize he was but the intermediary and in his letter written to the former purchaser of the gold plaque confirms the data which I had been given by word of mouth.

However, of greater interest I believe, in view of his wide knowledge, is the opinion of Dr. Georg Swarsenski who is the only person to whom I have shown the gold plaque and this a week or ten days ago.

As to the date, whereas I thought it could be early 11th century, he would extend it to 11th to 12th century.

Now, as regards the country of origin, having told him spontaneously that I thought it could perhaps be Spanish if not French, he expressed the belief it could be Italian. However, as he was anxious

t.s.v.p.