Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting
Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: What makes for a stereotypical librarian? Personally? I tend to
Speaker 1: picture a cozy sweater, ink stained hands, and tea, so
Speaker 1: much tea. Of course, these kinds of stereotypes are left
Speaker 1: over from a time when the librarian might be a
Speaker 1: woman who was thought to be a bit dowdy. Belde
Speaker 1: Coosta Green certainly did not fit that mold. In fact,
Speaker 1: Beldacosta Green didn't fit really into any mold in the
Speaker 1: early twentieth century. She was born Belle Maran Greener in
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine in Washington, d c. To parents who
Speaker 1: were prominent and well liked in their community. Her mother,
Speaker 1: Genevieve Ida Fleet, was a music teacher from a prominent
Speaker 1: local black family, and her father, Richard Theodore Greener, was
Speaker 1: the first black graduate of Harvard in the class of
Speaker 1: eighteen seventy Her father was an activist in every sense
Speaker 1: of the word, and wielded his education and intellect with pride,
Speaker 1: passing on a keen hunger for knowledge to his children,
Speaker 1: especially to Belle. Admittedly, she had a complicated relationship with
Speaker 1: her father. He left the family when she was seventeen,
Speaker 1: and it's not clear if Belle ever saw him again.
Speaker 1: The family was of mixed ancestry, and Belle herself was
Speaker 1: very light skinned. To get ahead in a world that
Speaker 1: enforced segregation in every way possible, Belle changed her name
Speaker 1: to Green and made her middle name DaCosta, creating a
Speaker 1: story of Portuguese heritage to explain her darker complexion. It
Speaker 1: was Belle Belle's position at the Princeton Library, though, that
Speaker 1: set her apart. She began working there in nineteen oh
Speaker 1: two and came to the attention of one Junius Spencer
Speaker 1: Morgan the Second, the nephew of the infamous JP Morgan.
Speaker 1: Junius was a book lover that eventually introduced Bell to
Speaker 1: his uncle, who was looking for a personal librarian to
Speaker 1: manage and expand his collection. And even though Morgan was
Speaker 1: just trying to impress old money in New York City,
Speaker 1: that didn't mean that he didn't want the best and
Speaker 1: most valuable, and he needed someone with a tenacity to
Speaker 1: get it. He hired Bell in nineteen oh five and
Speaker 1: charged her with taming the collection and then getting more.
Speaker 1: There always had to be more. Although libraries are commonly
Speaker 1: thought of as a woman's domain, remember our dowdy librarian stereotype,
Speaker 1: Most high level positions are occupied by men. Bell had
Speaker 1: her work cut out for her, and she handled it
Speaker 1: with her usual flare, often saying, and I quote, just
Speaker 1: because I'm a librarian doesn't mean I have to dress
Speaker 1: like one. Bell traveled extensively to Europe, out charming and
Speaker 1: outbidding the other collectors that came to jockey for positions
Speaker 1: in auctions and sales. She learned from the best in
Speaker 1: the field, and her word was as good as gold
Speaker 1: with European galleries, shops and dealers. She was fashionable, formidable,
Speaker 1: a splash of color and a somewhat drab male dominated world.
Speaker 1: And Bell was also forthright, maybe even blunt, with her
Speaker 1: employees and wasn't afraid to push Morgan when she was right,
Speaker 1: as she so often was. She acquired a staggering collection
Speaker 1: of rare books, manuscripts, and fine art for the Morgan Library,
Speaker 1: but her position became precarious when Morgan died in nineteen thirteen.
Speaker 1: It could have all come crashing down in that moment,
Speaker 1: but Morgan's son, JP. Morgan Junior, established the Pierpont Morgan
Speaker 1: Library as a public institution in nineteen twenty four and
Speaker 1: wasn't about to let a gem like Bell get away anyway.
Speaker 1: His father's will stipulated that Bell was to be kept
Speaker 1: on at the library with a salary of fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: Didn't just stay on as a librarian, though, she became
Speaker 1: the director. Under Bell's care, the Morgan Library blossomed into
Speaker 1: a significant public institution, and Bell herself was a respected
Speaker 1: figure who mentored colleagues and was the person to see
Speaker 1: about medieval art, particularly illuminated manuscripts. Because of that, institutions
Speaker 1: far and wide sought her council, But in nineteen thirty
Speaker 1: she was needed a little closer to home. The Metropolitan
Speaker 1: Museum of Art wanted to purchase an extremely rare medieval
Speaker 1: panel painting by Spanish master Jorge Ingles. It was a
Speaker 1: gorgeous piece showing the betrothal of Saint Ursula. At first glance,
Speaker 1: it was perfect, a busy scene with the large crowd
Speaker 1: centered around Saint Ursula and her would be husband. However,
Speaker 1: Belle looked closer and realized that something was off. People
Speaker 1: have certain expectations when it comes to the Middle Ages,
Speaker 1: and this painting played into all of them. What no
Speaker 1: one realized that day in nineteen thirty was that Bell
Speaker 1: had just uncovered one of the most successful and massive
Speaker 1: forgers in history. As it turns out, the figure Bell
Speaker 1: dubbed the Spanish Forger had been busy creating several medieval
Speaker 1: works for decades. Bell sought them out with the same
Speaker 1: single minded focus she devoted to Morgan's collection. The paintings
Speaker 1: were too perfect, they were too decorative and had too
Speaker 1: much gold leaf, something that was spare in actual medieval art.
Speaker 1: After almost a decade, Bell compiled the list of fourteen
Speaker 1: items she confirmed to have been created by the Spanish Forger.
Speaker 1: She retired in nineteen forty eight and died two years later,
Speaker 1: but her story is only just beginning to be explored
Speaker 1: and understood. The hunt for the Spanish Forger continues to
Speaker 1: this day. Currently, the list of works attributed to them
Speaker 1: stands at over three hundred But there's one last thing.
Speaker 1: A funny thing happened. After Bell's discovery, the Spanish Forger's
Speaker 1: art became just as valuable and sought after as the
Speaker 1: works they once sought to imitate. There are auctions for
Speaker 1: people to claim these pieces for their own, and thousands
Speaker 1: of dollars are exchanged, all for a pretty lie. We've
Speaker 1: never found out who the Spanish forger was. Thanks to
Speaker 1: Bella DaCosta Green, we've certainly discovered a colorful mystery. Everyone
Speaker 1: has that one item in their house they're proud of.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's the eighty inch TV in the living room,
Speaker 1: or their extensive collection of humble figurines. It could be
Speaker 1: an award, or a vintage piece of furniture, or even
Speaker 1: a prop from a famous movie. Whatever it is, it's
Speaker 1: something that brings them joy and acts as a conversation
Speaker 1: starter for when the guests come over. After all, who
Speaker 1: can ignore a TV almost as big as the wall?
Speaker 1: But Sadik Mohammad Khan Abbasi the Fourth didn't have a
Speaker 1: giant television set or a movie prop. What he had
Speaker 1: was a really nice bed. Abbasi was the Navab of Bahawalpur,
Speaker 1: a princely state of the British Indian Empire. Bahawalpur wasn't
Speaker 1: technically governed by the British. Instead, it was overseen by
Speaker 1: the Navab and controlled by the Crown through indirect rule.
Speaker 1: Bahawalpur was located on the eastern edge of modern Pakistan.
Speaker 1: It was founded in sixteen oh nine a d. But
Speaker 1: didn't form a subsidiary alliance with Britain until eighteen thirty three.
Speaker 1: As for Abbasi, sources are conflicted. Some say that he
Speaker 1: was born in eighteen sixty one, while others claimed that
Speaker 1: he was born a year later. His father was Navab
Speaker 1: at the time, but he sadly passed away in eighteen
Speaker 1: sixty six when Sadiq was only a boy. As the
Speaker 1: boy was still a minor at the time of his
Speaker 1: father's death, he was unable to assume the role and
Speaker 1: duties of Navab. Instead, the British took temporary control until
Speaker 1: Abbasi came of age in eighteen seventy nine, at which
Speaker 1: point he was granted the title of tenth Navab of Bahawalpur.
Speaker 1: In photographs, Abasi appeared to be fairly tall, with a
Speaker 1: full beard and long, dark hair that fell past his shoulders.
Speaker 1: He had a taste for the finer things in life,
Speaker 1: often depicted wearing long ornate jackets stitched with detailed phil agree,
Speaker 1: and I will confess that I cannot help but picture
Speaker 1: Nandor the relentless from what we do in the shadows.
Speaker 1: But you picture what you want to picture. But to
Speaker 1: get a true sense of his wealth and power, one
Speaker 1: need to look no further than his bedroom. Because the
Speaker 1: bed on which he slept was no ordinary resting place.
Speaker 1: He had it commissioned in eighteen eighty two to be
Speaker 1: built out of rosewood, a strong wood with a deep,
Speaker 1: rich red hue. Then he had the bed covered in
Speaker 1: a third of a ton of sterling silver from the
Speaker 1: Krystofel company in Paris. Christophel was a renowned silverware company
Speaker 1: that had supplied kings and emperors with beautiful tableware dating
Speaker 1: back to the eighteen forties. When it introduced a new
Speaker 1: way of bonding thin layers of metal to their forks, knives,
Speaker 1: and spoons, they called it electroplating. The process was a
Speaker 1: huge boon to their business too, But the Navab didn't
Speaker 1: have his bed electroplated. Instead, he asked the company's designers
Speaker 1: to carve and engrave the sterling silver with delicate patterns
Speaker 1: and ornamentations to show everyone that this was a bed
Speaker 1: fit for a king. A rosewood bed covered in specially
Speaker 1: crafted sterling silver might have been enough for most wealthy nobles,
Speaker 1: but not a bossy. He wanted more, and so on
Speaker 1: each of the four posts at the bed's corners he
Speaker 1: had placed four life size automatons cast from bronze. They
Speaker 1: were made by French artists on Ribouet and were modeled
Speaker 1: as four nude women of European descent, each wearing a
Speaker 1: dark wig and holding a feathered fan. Inside the posts
Speaker 1: on which they stood were springs that had been wired
Speaker 1: to a music box. Stored beneath the bed and under
Speaker 1: the mattress was a pressure sensor that was triggered when
Speaker 1: a bossi would crawl in at the end of a
Speaker 1: long busy day, and when the censor was activated, the
Speaker 1: four robotic women would move their eyes and wave their
Speaker 1: fans over him as a piece from a popular opera
Speaker 1: played for thirty minutes. Unfortunate, the current whereabouts of the
Speaker 1: bed are unknown. All that remains today are some photos
Speaker 1: taken by the Christoffel Company in eighteen eighty two, as
Speaker 1: well as a watercolor painting of it by Carl A. Scoggard.
Speaker 1: Looking back, though Nnavab's musical bed was more than just
Speaker 1: a display of extravagance and wealth, it was also a
Speaker 1: marvel of engineering and craftsmanship. To know it might still
Speaker 1: be out there waiting for somebody to lay down and
Speaker 1: switch on its half hour music show, well that would
Speaker 1: keep anyone up at night. I hope you've enjoyed today's
Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious. H