Joseph Duveen

Sir Joseph Joel Duveen (8 May 1843 – 9 November 1908) was an art dealer and benefactor of art galleries. Born in the Netherlands, he and his brother Henry J. Duveen founded in Britain the firm of Duveen Brothers. Early life He was born in Meppel in the Netherlands on 8 May 1843, the son of Eva (van Minden) and Joseph Henoch Duveen, who were both from Dutch Jewish families. His grandfather, Henry Duveen, who had first settled in Meppel during the Napoleonic Wars, was the youngest son of Joseph Duveen of Giessen, army contractor to the King of Saxony; Napoleon's repudiation of the debts of the Saxon forces ruined this Duveen, whose twelve sons were then driven to seek their fortunes in different countries. Joseph left Meppel in 1866 and settled in Hull, starting as a general dealer. He possessed a good knowledge of Nanking porcelain, then coming into fashion; cargo loads of this had been brought to Holland by the early Dutch traders with China. He purchased large quantities, which he shipped it to Hull, and found a ready market in London. Expansion of business In partnership with his younger brother Henry he secured the chief American trade in Oriental porcelain, and in 1877 opened a branch house at Fifth Avenue, New York. They formed many notable collections in America, and they largely helped in the formation of the Taft, Widener, Gould, Altmann and Morgan art collections.