Norwegian gallery cheaps out on postage and loses a Rembrandt

The Soli Brug Gallery in Greaaker, Norway, not far from Oslo, took the cheap route when having a Rembrandt etching mailed from Great Britain. The gallery didn't even take out insurance and saved a few bucks but problem is - the Rembrandt never arrived.

It was Reuters that first picked up on the story but it's being carried by dozens of online news sites now, including the CBC in Canada, the BBC in the U.K. and by Huffington Post in the U.S.. The gallery is not feeling great about getting the notice to collect the etching, titled Lieven Willemsz, van Coppenol, Writing-Master, and showing up at their local post office only to be told, after a considerable wait, that it could not be found anywhere in the Norwegian postal system. "Using a courier or special insurance is quite expensive so we have used regular mail until now," Ole Derje, the chairman of the Soli Brug Gallery told Reuters on Thursday. He said it was not the dealer in the U.K.'s fault and noted that along with advising them to buy insurance next time, the post office did offer recompense for the 17th century etching. "It is worth around 40,000 to 50,000 crowns ($6,900-$8,600) and the postal service is offering us compensation of 500-1,000 crowns ($86-$172)," Derje said.