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Castel Blanc, 14 Rue Torrot. St.Germain-en-Laye, 4 May 1948.
My dear friend,
I was not able to come to the official inauguration yesterday morning, and I regret having missed an opportunity to see you. I went there in the afternoon with Dussaud and we were happy to see again all these fine objects well arranged, so long inaccessible.
Parrot, to whom I handed over about a month ago, the deposit of bronze objects discovered last year at Enkomi to have it cleaned; he did not dare have any work carried out. I spoke to you about this find on my return in January from my excavation season, and since half of this group falls to the excavator's share, and so to the Louvre, I asked you whether your department could take charge of cleaning this group. Moreover there is not much to do, the bronzes are in excellent condition. It is only a matter of removing the excess patina and rejoining two pieces of a sort of sceptre. You then told me that in principle you agreed and that I should speak about it to Parrot. I understand Parrot's hesitation not to want to take on responsibility for objects that are not yet definitively assigned to the Louvre collections, and on the other hand, the cost of this work could weigh on his budget. I promised to speak to you again about the details, and I ask you to decide whether Parrot's department can take charge of the work in question, or whether I should have it done by the Nicosia museum, to which I will hand over the objects for the division on my return to Cyprus is autonomous.
It is quite understood that if Parrot's department takes on this work, that this will be without any communicationlity on the part of this department. The work will be carried out or under the eyes and supervision of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus which entrusted the treasure, and not responsibility of its own as excavator.
Handwritten: signature
G. S. Salles, Director of the Museums of France, Louvre Palace, Paris 1st.
65 figures hard to readstruck struck outadded written in above” jug ditto, and what it repeatsword reading not certain