In the case of "Barns v. Johnson," which was tried
this week before Mr. Justice Grove at Bury St. Edmund's, a case in which the question turned on whether or not Mr. Johnson had represented a picture sold to Mr. Barns as a genuine Cooper, or whether, on the contrary, he told him plainly the story of hew it came into his possession, and had refused to vouch in any way for its genuineness,—Mr. Thomas Sidney Cooper gave evidence that of 153 pictures professing to be by him which had been submitted to him, 142 wore spurious, and only eleven were his own. In this particular case, Mr. Barns had given £25 for a picture which Mr. Cooper valued at about half-a-crown. It is clear that this business of forging pictures from celebrated artists is becoming a very profitable and very common avocation, and as we have repeatedly had occasion to point out, we believe it will never be checked until the forging of these artistic signatures on pictures is made punishable as the forging of a cheque is punishable. It is a fraua, done for gain, at the expense of the person who is deceived by it ; and it not only injures the purchaser, who is the immediate object of deception, but injures equally,—perhaps in the end even more,—the artist, whose reputation is lowered by this continual publication of his name as the author of worthless -- '
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