THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 7, 1938.
NEPHEW OF JACOB SASSOON LIVES MONASTIC LIFE WITH ART TREASURES
London, April 17. Just beyond the traffic streams of Brompton-road, in the heart of fashionable Knightsbridge, Lon- don, a rich man lives a strange, almost monastic life.
Dark, fervent Simon Nissim, nephew of the late Sir Sassoon, multi-millionaire, dwells alone in his six-storey mansion in Beautfort gardens dotes over treasures that have come from the world's four corners, and are part of history.
dale table, in the spacious dining- room on the first floor of his house. Every night he climbs to the top of the house to the chilly, fireless bedroom in which he makes his
own bed.
But before retiring he goes the Jacob rounds of his treasures.
In
a Chinese imperial red lacquer wardrobe at the foot of his bed is part of the Emperor of Abyssinia's heavily gilt silver table service, which Mr. Nissim bought a year and a half ago. More of it is in his bank.
By profession he is a barrister. But for years he has lived in his thirty-two-room home, cooking his own simple meals, doing nearly all the cleaning.
He does not answer. the door, unless a message telling of a visit reaches him first on one of his two telephones.
He spends little
money on clothes, less on food. For to him these things are unimportant.
What to him is important-the inspiration of his life is the priceless collection of beautiful antique furniture, lovely ornate clocks, Chinese paintings, and gold and silverware with which every room in the house, is crammed.
1
On these he has spent almost all the fortune left to him by Sir Jacob Sassoon.
On the furniture alone, brought from the sale-rooms of the leading West End art auctioneers, Simon Nissim places a nominal value of £50,000.
Mr. Nissim is a bachelor, in his forties. Except on his excursions into the outside world of art he now sees few people.
"HIS CHILDREN" Yet for him that great house is crowded with living souls his antiques.
A
Lovingly he calls them his children. And with them he lives again the days of Louis XIV., Napoleon, or in the palaces of Chinese emperors. Each piece is so greatly treasur- ed that he will never repeat the experiment he once tried of having a charwoman to clean the rooms. So that no harm shall come to his collection, he prefers to do this work himself.
Relatives are concerned about Mr. Nissim. They would like him to sell his £10,000 house, or let part of it so that he would have the benefit of human company.. But Mr. Nissim angrily dismisses these suggestions.
STILL BUYINGTM
And when he let me visit him last week he told me why.
"Far from having too much room," said this man with the piercing brown eyes, "I want much more than I have. I am still buying, chiefly bedroom suites and gold plate. The bed- room suites will take up a lot of room."
And as we climbed up the richly carpeted staircases from floor to floor I was amazed at the profu- sion of his collection.
Costly antiques are crowded into spare bedrooms, about fifty silken Chinese kakemonos (rolled plaint-
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are stacked away in a cupboard, gold and silver works of art are heaped on beds.
In forty-eight hours the wonder house of Beaufort-gardens could be made ready to receive a prince and his entourage.
"They call all this
my in- sanity," Mr. Nissim laughed. "But there_is_method_in_my_mad- ness, if you call it such.. Before I die I want to fill my house with a sufficient number of beautiful things so that I can take pride in bequeathing them all to the nation.
"My uncle and benefactor, Sir Jacob, gave so much of his wealth to charity. It.is fitting that. I should make a gift of the treasures The "monk" of Beaufort-gardens I have been able to buy with the eats his meals on a huge Chippen- money he left me."
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