§ Mr. AspinwallTo ask the Minister for the Arts if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since he last made an announcement on the subject to the House.
§ Mr. LuceSince my announcement on 1 February, at column462, I am pleased to announce a portrait of Captain William Wade by Thomas Gainsborough has been accepted in lieu of estate duty. The offer was conditional on allocation to Bath city council. This acceptance followed the precedent set by the acceptance of Picasso's "Weeping Woman" in that Bath city council agreed to pay the owner the difference (£230,000) between the tax liability to be satisfied, £638,444 and the "special price" of £868,444. This was made possible by a call on the reserve in accordance with the arrangements agreed in July 1985.
219WI have also decided, subject to the satisfactory completion of the improvements to the Tate's archive storage accommodation, to allocate the archives of the late Lord Clark to the Tate gallery.
Finally, 10 portrait miniatures accepted from the estate of the late right hon. Viscount Harcourt have been allocated; nine to the Victoria and Albert museum and one, a portrait of Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, to the national portrait gallery.