LONDON, ENGLAND.- Arts Minister, Estelle Morris, has placed a temporary export bar on an oak coffer, originally from a set of four, believed to have been designed in a collaboration between William Beckford and his architect H.E. Goodrich. This will provide a last chance to raise the money to keep the coffer in the United Kingdom.

William Beckford (1760-1844) was one of the most remarkable men of his time and was dubbed 'England's wealthiest son' by Byron. Mozart taught him piano and by the age of twenty-one he had written the groundbreaking romance Vathek. After a homosexual scandal, he was ostracised by society.

Beckford was an exceptional amateur architect and designer. Lansdown Tower, built on a strip of land leading up to his house in Bath, was his last architectural scheme and his inventive ideas were the driving force in the design of both the interior and exterior. He rode there each day to read, write, reflect in solitude and admire his art collection. The Tower contained a series of small rooms on two floors, each displaying works of art. The Scarlet Drawing Room, for which the four coffers were designed, was the most important interior of the ground floor. Its rich, glowing decoration epitomised Beckford's intention to create in the Tower a final, perfect version of the collector's sanctuary that he had been seeking to create around him throughout his life.

The Minister's ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art that the export decision be deferred.

The deferral will enable purchase offers to be made at the following agreed fair market price:
An oak coffer, believed to be designed by William Beckford and H. E. Goodridge, deferred at the recommended price of £145,000 (exclusive of VAT), until after 19 January 2005 with the possibility of an extension until after 19 March 2005 if there is a serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to purchase.
Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the coffer should contact the owner's agent through:

The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH