Henry J. Duveen

Henry Joseph Duveen (26 October 1854[1] – 15 January 1919) was an art dealer who co-founded the firm of Duveen Brothers with his sibling, the first Sir Joseph Joel Duveen.

Henry J. Duveen
Born(1854-10-26)26 October 1854
Meppel, Netherlands
Died15 January 1919(1919-01-15) (aged 64)
OccupationArt dealer

Duveen was born in Meppel, Netherlands, the son of Eva (van Minden) and Joseph Henoch Duveen, who were both from Dutch Jewish families.[2] After his brother's death from Bright's disease in 1908, his nephew, the future Lord Duveen, worked alongside his uncle. He was also an eminent philatelist who was one of the Fathers of Philately named on the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.

Art dealing

Henry Duveen went to New York to establish a gallery there in the 1870s whilst his brother, Joel Joseph, founded galleries in London and Paris. One of Henry's first clients was the department store owner Benjamin Altman who until his death in 1913 purchased a large collection of Oriental porcelain from him, as well as many Rembrandts, Italian Renaissance masterpieces, and old rugs etc.

Philately
The "Miss Rose" cover of British Guiana, c. 1850. Discovered 1896.[3]
The Hawaiian Missionary 2c and 13c stamps on piece once owned by Duveen.[4]

Duveen owned some of the great rarities of philately, including the "Miss Rose" cover franked with a pair of British Guiana "cotton reels"[5] and more than one Post Office Mauritius.[6] He restricted himself to issues before 1896 and, at its height, his collection took up sixty-nine Stanley Gibbons Oriel albums.[7] Duveen's son, Sir Geoffrey Edgar Duveen (1883–1975), inherited his general stamp collection.[8]

References
  1. Bierman, Stanley M. The World's Greatest Stamp Collectors. New York: Frederick Fell Publishers Inc., 1981, p. 90. ISBN 0811903478
  3. British Guiana’s Cottonreels, L.N. Williams, davidfeldman.com, 21 May 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Archived here.
  4. Siegel Auctions
  5. Bierman, 1981, p. 92.
  6. Duveen, Henry (1854–1919) Helen Morgan, Blue Mauritius, 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Archived here.
  7. Bierman, 1981, p. 92.
  8. Who Was Who in British Philately, Association of British Philatelic Societies, 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014. Archived here.

Further reading
  • Phillips, Charles J. (1922) The Duveen Collection of Rare Old Postage Stamps: A Brief Description of Some of the Rarities of this Famous Collection. New York: Charles J. Phillips.
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