Echaniz_Test

Los Angeles Nov. 2,1940 Dear Bill:

I have written air mail to New York to return the urns immediately. It is just too damn bad that my New York agent got in a jam and we will have to take care of him as he is very active and a very fine gentleman and has a reputation of being very honest.

The bank will have to return the note for two weeks, so get in touch with Hale and tell him the sad news. I have demanded from my New York agent the money he owes me, which would cover the first note, and which he fefused payment on Oct 15th. Arensberg hasn’t been in yet but ’phoned that he would be down shortly. When he sees the things he is going to have a hemorrhage. He still owes me enough money to cover the second note in spite of the fact that I had to discount his account $800. to bring him back into the fold. I thought this would be the best thing to do and it worked.

I am taking colored kodachromes of every piece and sending them to the different museums, and in this way we will pick up quite a lot of business in the coming year. You would be surprised how beautiful they look in these kodachromes when they are thrown up on the screen. I have given many lectures showing the kodachromes during the talk and we are working up a tremendous amount of interest. This has also brought in people who are going to be potential collectors.

Please send the jade pieces as soon as you can. I will take colored kodachromes of them with my portrait camera and shoot them around to the different collectors throughout the country. I think in this way we can sift out the collectors who can afford to pay for small things. I want to try to get enough ready cash together so that I can come down in January or the last of Dec. We have some pretty tall work to do there. If Willkie is elected, business will be 100% better. I hope your political situation down there will be settled. It is surprising to see how the Willkie stock has risen. It seems to be more or less of a crusade and I think the betting is about even now.

I would suggest sending up the things that you have as I need more for the room. The garden pieces I will sell out quickly as they don’t look quite so good among the finer things. As you say, we have to establish ourselves to be absolutely on the square on the authenticity of our pieces, even if it hurts at times, and of course, I am leaving most of this to you as you should know and should not allow a thing to come up that there is the slightest question of doubt. I have great faith in you and don’t want to be disillusioned. I haven’t opened up my room to the public and doubt whether I will, but I will soon get the ball, rolling and start operations in full.

The new lot looks' marvelous. You ask what kind of material I would like now. They seem to like the animals in stone and the snake. Also, if you can get ahold of any palms it would be swell. By all means, try to get the piece from Tampico. It looks very good. I received the book but as I can’t read Spanish, I just have to look at the reproduction.

I am going to send you a photograph of the frescoe with its ten million pieces. H[ow] I will ever get it together, God only knows. When you see the photograph you w[ill] 

Bill Echaniz - continued - Page 2

see what I am up against. It is driving me nuts, as some of the pieces are broken into such small bits that I will never be able to get them together. As I said before, the best way to pack these things is in sawdust. If we had skinned the frescoe down to one inch of the plaster and put it in plaster of paris, as you did that one box, it would have been much better. I could have completed the skinning here and had the pieces in order. Your suggestion on that was the best and I am sorry now that we didn't act upon it. Well, experience teaches us a lot.

With kindest regards,

Yours,