I went tonight to an event to commemorate the late Sheikh Saoud Al Thani, one of the great collectors of recent years, who collected across the range – vintage motor cars, photography and most of all antiquities, all of which are still apparently stored in warehouses in Qatar awaiting a decision as to what will happen to them in the longer term. He was photographed by Richard Avedon and established an annual photographic award, announced tonight. The event began with a salutation not just to ‘Your Royal Highnesses’, but to ‘Your Exalted Highness’:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
There’s a jolly short film of part of the collection here. http://youtu.be/ZGyroNDkEqo I always enjoy the combination of fine cars and fine carpets.
Wrong Sheikh, I think. Faisal not Saoud. Charles
Ah, sorry. Rather a lot of Al Thanis to get to grips with…
Yes, there are about 300. Charles
Thanks Charles, I’ve been wondering what has happened to the beautiful Newby Hall Venus – once the toast of Yorkshire – ever since he bought it for £8million plus at Christies. The ‘replica’ with which the Compton family replaced her is OK as far as the body goes, but horrible from the neck up ( the original has a slightly battered head cannibalised from another antique statue in the C18th which proves impossible to copy, it’s all in my book, Owning the Past, Why the English collected antique sculpture, Yale 2014).