BAGHDAD (AP) – Authorities in northern Iraq have arrested three men on charges they were trying to traffic stolen antiquities, including the bust of a Sumerian king, a local army commander said Saturday.
The three were arrested in a sting operation after attempting to sell one of the artifacts for $160,000 to an undercover intelligence officer of the Iraqi Army’s 12th division in a village southwest of Kirkuk, division commander Maj. Gen. Abdul Amir al-Zaidi told reporters.
The sting operation, which took place around two weeks ago, was set up based on intelligence from local residents, he said.
“The duty of Iraqi army is not only to chase the terrorists but also to protect state treasures,” he said.
In total the men had eight pieces from the Sumerian period, which dates from around 4000 B.C. to 2000 B.C., that they were trying to sell.
A fourth man is still being sought in the case, al-Zaidi said. He gave no further details. It was not clear where the items came from, but after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s government, looters stole and smashed priceless treasures from the National Museum in Baghdad and other museums and libraries. At the time, Iraq’s museums held priceless, millennia-old collections from the Assyrian, Sumerian and Babylonian cultures that chronicled some 7,000 years of civilization in ancient Mesopotamia.
Some have been recovered but many remain missing.
Elsewhere in Iraq on Saturday, a roadside bomb killed an 11-year-old boy and wounded his two friends in the violence-plagued northern city of Mosul.
The bomb exploded around 4 p.m. after a police patrol that was the apparent target had already passed by, a Mosul police officer said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
An off-duty Iraqi soldier was also killed in Mosul in a drive-by shooting, he said.
Mosul is in an area rife with tension between Arabs and Kurds over territory. The U.S. military says it is also the last urban battleground of al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni extremist groups. The level of violence there remains high even as it has dropped elsewhere in Iraq. ____
Associated Press Writer Yahya Barzanji contributed to this report from Kirkuk
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Plains Indian pictograph book, Lakota, Brule, pre-1881, estimate $8,000-$12,000. Image courtesy Skinner Inc.
BOSTON – Skinner’s next American Indian and Ethnographic Art sale will be held in the company’s Boston gallery on Saturday, Sept. 26, commencing at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.com.
The sale features an eclectic array of material from more than 100 consignors, including both historical societies and private collections. The vast majority of the property is fresh to the market and in fine condition, with estimates reflecting current economic conditions.
The sale starts off with an interesting grouping of Pre-Columbian material highlighted by a feathered cocoa bag, c. 500-800 A.D. (lot 52, est. $300-400); a thousand-year-old poncho (lot 51, est. $350-450); a Peruvian balance beam, likely used for weighing spices (lot 56, est. $250-350); a stone and metal necklace, with crystal pendant (lot 43, est. $300-400); and a shell and silver necklace, with warrior amulet beads (lot 42, est. $300-400).
Other Pre-Columbian offerings of note include a carved-wood lime container (lot 49, est. $400-600); a Northern Argentinean carved stone bowl, c. 200 B.C.- 300 A.D., with two spotted feline forms looking up from the rim (lot 77, est. $4,000-6,000); a Huastec limestone figure (lot 17, est. $6,000-8,000); and two Mayan stucco panels, c. 550-950 A.D. (lot 16, est. $4,000-6,000).
The September sale features an extensive selection of tribal material. The show-stopping piece might likely be a Maori carved wood male figure from 19th century New Zealand (lot 203, est. $30,000-50,000). The figure comes from the collection of Rev. Alfred Fairbrother, by descendant of his family. Rev. Fairbrother was living in New Zealand on expedition with the Baptist church in the 1880s. The 1886 eruption of the volcano Mt. Tarawera destroyed the small Maori village and forced the minister to leave. At the time of his departure, the chief of the tribe bestowed upon him several hand-carved idols, tools and weapons, including the above reference lot.
Also from the Rev Fairbrother’s collection is a Maori Tiki carved wood figure (lot 195, est. $3,000-4,000). Additional tribal highlights include a large Polynesian carved wood treasure box (lot 196, est. $12,000-16,000); an Amazonian Tomoko mask (lot 123, est. $300-500); an Indonesian carved wood panel (lot 128, est. $900-1,200); a Hawaiian feathered lei from the last quarter of the 19th century (lot 184, est. $800-1,200); a Hawaiian poi bowl (lot 189, est. $8000-1,2000); and a nice selection of a dozen Aboriginal spears.
From Africa comes a carved stone head (lot 119, est. $6,000-8,000); a Boli figure (lot 120, est. $3,000-4,000); a ceremonial trough (lot 118, est. $5,000-7,000); a Yoruba carved wood helmet mask (lot 105, est. $7,000-9,000); and a carved wood drum, possibly Fang (lot 115, est. $400-600).
In the American Indian section, very fine examples of Plains material will be up for bid, highlighted by a beaded and quilled buffalo hide rifle scabbard (lot 240, est. $10,000-15,000); a beautiful beaded and quilled hide pipe bag from the late 19th century, beaded on one side with two American flags over a single bison, the other side with a single horse and geometric and cross devices (lot 233, est. $4,000-6,000); a rare carved wood triple-blade club (lot 234, est. $25,000-35,000); and an Indian pictograph book, c. pre-1881, entitled Indian Autographs (lot 245, est. $8,000-12,000). Among the American Indian offerings is a Northwest Coast carved wood raven rattle (lot 345, est. $6,000-8,000); a lovely pair of Northeast beaded and quilled cloth and hide moccasins (lot 256, est. $5,000-7,000); a Southwest late classic Moki blanket (lot 376, est. $8,000-12,000); and a Germantown weaving depicting a locomotive (lot 378, est. $600-800).
The sale also features one of the largest selections of Navajo jewelry to ever be offered in a Skinner American Indian sale. The jewelry comes from two collections and features an incredible selection of bracelets, as well as belts, rings, necklaces and pins. The majority of lots 262 to 309 are estimated between $200 on the low end and $2,000 at the high.
Finally, the sale rounds out with a fine variety of Kachina dolls, pottery and twined basketry.
For information on any item in this sale, call Skinner Inc. at 617-350-5400. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Large Polynesian carved wood treasure box, Maori, 19th century, estimate $12,000-$16,000. Image courtesy Skinner Inc. Maori Carved Wood Male Figure, New Zealand, 19th century. Provenance: Collected by Rev. Alfred Fairbrother, Baptist minister to the Maoris, 1882-85. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000. Image courtesy Skinner Inc. Central Plains beaded and quilled hide pipe bag, Lakota, circa late 19th century, $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy Skinner Inc.
Standing 13 feet high, this scarce two-sided neon sign advertises both Oldsmobile and Cadillac. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service.ANN ARBOR, Mich. – After skipping its customary live spring sale to conduct a catalog auction, Showtime Auction Services will return this fall to stage a remarkable three-day event, Oct. 2-4, with the entire collection of Ronald G. Wallace, former president of shipping giant UPS. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Wallace has turned his focus to opening a chain of Celtic Pubs and serving as a captain of the Alpharetta, Ga., police department. The pubs are decorated with original antique fixtures, and Wallace has found that searching for these fixtures has replaced his desire to continue growing his collection of fine antiques.
In addition to this fabulous collection will be about 1,000 other lots of investment-grade antiques and collectibles from several other prominent collectors. The auction is scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 2-4. The auction will be held at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds, 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Road in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Wallace, is a larger-than-life figure, maintains a 44,000-square-foot home in suburban Atlanta. It’s where he houses his massive collection of vintage advertising, gambling, saloon, brothel, country store and general store items – 800 lots in all. These are displayed in a mind boggling, full-scale replica of Tombstone, Ariz., as it existed in 1892.
Wallace enlisted Rick Clark who has done work for Six Flags of America to construct 14 storefront facades for one wing of his home. It consists of more than 200 running feet and stands 27 feet tall. Other great items will include a Brunswick Balke & Collander front and back bar, circa 1890. This is the desirable mahogany L.A. model, featuring two hand-carved, full-bodied nudes and matching liquor cabinet.
The sale will also feature gambling, toys, advertising, barber shop, country store, soda fountain, paintings, Western memorabilia, coin-op, trade signs, folk art and many other surprises, about 1,800 lots in all. Phone, Internet and absentee bids will be accepted on Saturday and Sunday but only live audience members can bid on Friday.
One lot sure to turn heads is a Moxiemobile car, a later replica of the vehicles first created in 1915 by Frank Archer to advertise and promote the soft drink Moxie. Originally known as the Moxie Horsemobile, there were several Moxiemobiles on American roads in the 1930s, mainly in parades. The example to be sold is a Rolls Royce version Moxiemobile with a Ford engine. It’s in excellent condition.
Advertising signs include a National Fine Beers tin sign (New Orleans, La.), made by Kaufmann & Strauss Co. and dated 1893; a rare Jeweled Cigar trade sign with two-side light-up, quite possibly the only one of its kind; and a hard-to-find Oldsmobile and Cadillac neon porcelain sign, two-sided, in excellent working condition. The sign is approximately 13 feet high.
From the vintage toys group, expected top lots include an all-original Buddy L water tower fire truck, one of the most difficult 1920s fire trucks to find, with a real working pumper that can spray water up to 25 feet; a Sturdy Toy 1920s dairy tanker pressed steel tractor and trailer; an unusual 1920s Keystone pressed steel Packard tank truck with a yellow tank; and a toy 1954 Mercury convertible car with a travel trailer.
Other anticipated top lots include a rare Caille Centaur 50-cent upright slot machine with mahogany cabinet and nickel-plated trim, in excellent working condition; a Red Wing Grape Juice bottle topper boasting fabulous color and featuring graphics of a boy and a girl; and a rare Black Americana mechanical fishing boy. When it’s plugged in, the figure’s head nods and his eyes move back and forth.
A preview will be held on Friday, Oct. 2, from 8 a.m. to noon, with a free hot breakfast served from 8 to a.m. to 10 a.m. The auction that day will run from noon to 5 p.m. for a live audience only; no Internet bidding. On Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 3-4), previews will be held from 8-9 a.m. The auction on Saturday, Oct. 3, will run 9-5; on Sunday, Oct. 4, the auction hours are from 9-4. Internet, phone and left bids will be accepted on Saturday and Sunday.
For details call Michael Eckles of Showtime Auction Services at (951) 453-2415.
View the fully illustrated catalogs and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
This is a later replica of the famous Moxiemobile, an advertising vehicle that promoted the bold, fresh soft drink Moxie. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service. Kaufman & Strauss Co. produced this tin sign advertising National Fine Beers, New Orleans, which is dated 1893. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service. This rare double roulette table by B.C. Willis Co. of Detroit is one of only three known. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service. Shoppers were attracted to dramatic and colorful Winchester three-dimensional die-cut cardboard store window displays. Only 13 Consumers Brewing Co. label under glass display mugs are known to exist. Eight are in this auction. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service. Embellished with German silver, this Impressive Ted Flowers parade saddle cost $3,000 in 1956. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service. This replica of Tombstone, Ariz., has more than over 200 running feet of storefront. Image courtesy Showtime Auction Service.
Rookwood 1903 painted matte vase by Olga G. Reed, 11¼ inches, with red maple leaves on a shaded indigo ground, estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy Rago’s.
LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – Rago’s will launch its 2009-2010 auction season with a double-header auction of Roseville and Craftsman/early 20th-century design. The Craftsman auction, with a great number of lots for design- and budget-conscious buyers, is set for Saturday, Sept. 26 at noon Eastern Time, following a 400-lot sale of Roseville and other Ohio potteries that will be conducted on the day prior – Friday, Sept. 25, also commencing at noon. Internet live bidding will be available through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
“This is a sale of original work by early 20th-century designers, at reasonable prices. The value is tremendous, with strong property priced to sell,” said David Rago. “The Roseville sale brings back a Rago perennial for the fans.”
American Art pottery is, as ever, a strong suit at Rago’s. Headline lots include several exceptional vases. Lot 631 is a large Grueby vase with two rows of tooled and applied full-height leaves covered in matte green glaze, estimated at $3,000-$5,000. Lot 904 is a John Bennett vase, painted with white daffodils. This rare and early vase was made in 1877, the first year Bennett set up shop on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. It is signed J. Bennett 101 Lex Ave. NY. JB/77, and is estimated at $1,000-$1,500.
Lot 857 is a Teco rare ovoid vase with ridges in matte green glaze. Lot 601 is a 1903 Rookwood painted matte vase by Olga G. Reed, estimated at $2,000-$3,000. It has red maple leaves on a shaded indigo ground.
Lot 773 consists of five Doulton (Lambeth) stoneware decorated pitchers, sprigged-on or cameo. Two of the pitchers read: “Bread at Pleasure, Drink by Measure” and “Those who have money are troubled about it, those who have none, are troubled without it.” The others have dining or hunting scenes. They are all marked and are estimated to fetch $500-$750 for the group.
Lot 861 is a 1943 North Dakota School of Mines covered jar carved by Irene Nelson, with serpents and Prairie rose, estimated at $2,500-3,500.
Also look for a good collection of Southern face jugs and ugly jugs, notably lot 782, a Lanier Meaders face jug with granite teeth and matte and glossy dark green glaze. It is signed Lanier Meaders and is estimated at $1,000-1,500.
Arts & Crafts furniture of import includes a Limbert vanity (lot 930) with three drawers and a three-paneled mirror and a branded mark, estimated at $1,000-$1,500, and an L. & J.G. Stickley even-arm settle (lot 817) with a wide back rail, tall post legs and side slats. It is signed “The Work of L. & J.G. Stickley,” and is estimated at $1,900-$2,700.
The sale features art glass in the leading styles of the time. Among the best is lot 1036, a Lalique Ambrefor D’Orsay perfume bottle. The glass is clear and frosted with a blue patina, and is estimated at $1,000-$1,500.
Also of note, lot 1021, a Steuben gold Aurene footed vase with an applied enameled heart and vine decoration, is estimated at $2,000-$3,000. Lot 950 is an Arts & Crafts large stained glass window with stylized trees in a landscape, mounted in its original window frame, estimated at $1,200-$1,700.
This sale showcases a variety of lighting fixtures. Lot 984 is a Handel table lamp with an etched glass shade obverse- and reverse-painted with a landscape against a vermillion sky over a three-socket lobed base, estimated at $4,500-$6,500. Lot 981 is a Bradley & Hubbard large leaded-glass chandelier that features pink tulips and green foliage on an amber ground. It is estimated to fetch $1,750-$2,250.
Also of note: woodblock prints, paintings and drawings, including lot 811, a Frances Gearhart color woodblock print depicting seagulls on a dock with sailboats in the distance, estimated at $600-$800; and lot 946, three framed watercolors by George Hardy Payne. Payne was a student of Louis Comfort Tiffany. His studio in Paterson, N.J., was one of the most productive clerical stained-glass window companies in the United States, and is responsible for all 11 Patriarchal windows added in 1922 to the north side of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Paterson. The watercolors are renderings of the stained-glass window designs for St. Paul’s, which consist of two vertical arch designs and one roundel. The lot is estimated at $900-$1,200.
Art tiles always figure in a Craftsman sale and this one is no exception. Buyers can choose from a number of fine examples of Grueby tiles, including three from a set: lot 638, which portrays a bird swooping down on green waves; lot 637, seagulls and buoy; and lot 636, an ivory rabbit in cabbage field. All are decorated in cuenca and are estimated to fetch $750-$1,000. There are also several rare Saturday Evening Girls tiles such as lot 835, The Badger House; and lot 834, Mather-Eliot House. Both have a Paul Revere stamp and are estimated at $1,000-$1,500.
Metalwork of the period is represented by several Arts & Crafts pieces, including lot 978, a hammered copper hood embossed with a revolver, riveted along its edges, estimated at $700-$900; and lot 803, a Liberty Cymric sterling silver picture frame with four turquoise cabochons designed by Archibald Knox, circa 1905, estimated at $1,750-$2,250.
Friday’s sale of Ohio potteries includes makers Roseville, Weller, McCoy, and Peters and Reed, as well as a group of tiles from the region. Among the pottery highlights are several exceptional Roseville vases:
Pauleo is a popular Arts & Crafts pattern introduced by Roseville Pottery in 1914. The designers used numerous glazes with Pauleo, including lustrous, matte mottled colors, and semi-gloss blends. Most Pauleo pieces were without ornamentation, and lot 327 is no exception. It is a rare, large floor vase with matte green and raspberry red mottled glaze, estimated at $5,000-$6,000.
Orian is a middle-period Art Deco pattern introduced by Roseville Pottery in 1935. Lots 142 and 143 are tall Orian vases in yellow and red, estimated at $450-$650 each. Lot 314 is from Roseville’s Rozane line. It is finely painted with a dog portrait, estimated at $750-$1,000. Roseville’s Baneda line was introduced in 1933. Lot 113 is a green Baneda estimated at $1,000-$1,500. Lot 15 is from the short-lived Azurean line dating to 1920. It has a painting of a large sailboat by Anthony Dunleavy and is estimated to fetch $1,000-$1,500. Lot 22 is a rare and exceptional red Carnelian II ”Beehive” vase (which is also known to some collectors as Carnelian III), estimated at $5,000-$7,000.
The sale also contains several Roseville wall pockets, including some from the highly sought-after lines of Tourist and Sunflower. Lot 8, a rare Tourist, is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. Lot 294, Sunflower, is estimated at $600-$900.
Other notable Roseville items include lot 329, a Dogwood I umbrella stand, which is a nice, large example of an Arts & Crafts line, estimated at $700-$900. Lot 359 is a brown Primrose sand jar, estimated at $500-$700; and lot 131 is a rare tan Artcraft 8-inch jardiniere and pedestal, estimated at $1,400-$1,800.
Roseville’s Della Robbia line was introduced in 1906; the hand-carved pieces are scarce and highly sought after by collectors. Lot 1 is a unique and large experimental covered jar, carved and enamel-decorated by artist Helen Smith with clematis vines in lavenders, greens, and ivory. Despite several shallow firing lines and glaze scaling, the piece is estimated to fetch $5,000-$7,000. Lot 29 is a rare Della Robbia mug, enamel-decorated with a band of blossoms, leaves and a verse from the poet Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat: ”Perplext no more with Human or Divine, To-morrow’s tangle to the winds resign, And lose your fingers in the tresses of The Cypress-slender Minister of Wine.” It is estimated at $1,000-$1,500.
Weller Pottery began production in 1872. The Weller Sicard line, made by Frenchman Jacques Sicard from 1902 to 1907, is one of Weller’s most sought-after patterns. Lot 39 is a Weller Sicard 6-inch bud vase, perfectly fired with stars on burgundy ground, estimated at $600-$900.
Weller Hudson was developed in the late teens to early 1920s and to this day remains among the highest quality, hand-decorated pottery ever produced. Lot 36 is a fine and rare Weller Hudson scenic 6-inch bud vase, the only one we know of with rabbits, estimated at $1,000-$1,500.
The Weller Woodcraft and Muskota lines are extremely popular with Arts & Crafts pottery collectors. Lot 56 is a rare Weller Woodcraft 15½-inch vase with an owl in apple tree, estimated at $600-$800.
Other Weller pieces to note are: lot 200, from the Jap Birdmal or Rhead Faience line, an 18-inch vase painted in squeezebag with a geisha, estimated at $700-$1,000; and, lot 48, a rare, life-size Garden Ware running rabbit, estimated at $800-$1,200. Weller pottery ceased production in early 1948.
Several of the sale’s Zanesville tiles are from the American Encaustic Tiling Co., and were featured in the seminal 1972 book, Zanesville Art Tile in Color, by Evan and Louise Purviance, including: lot 370, an exceptional oversize advertising tile with an Elizabethan gentleman smoking a pipe at a table, covered in matte caramel and ivory glaze, estimated at $2,000-$3,000; and, lot 371, a rare and large pair of grate tiles with putti within ribbon and foliate design, covered in matte turquoise glaze, estimated at $1,500-$2,000.
For information on any decorative-art lot in the sale, contact David Rago or Suzanne Perrault at 609-397-9374 or e-mail info@ragoarts.com. For furniture enquiries, call Jerry Cohen at 800-448-7828 or e-mail jerry@craftsman-auctions.com. View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet through www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Grueby vase with three full-height tooled and applied leaves covered in fine frothy matte green glaze, 7¾ inches, estimate: $2,500-$3,500. Image courtesy Rago’s. Handel table lamp with faceted, leaded-glass shade painted and overlaid with blooming trees, over a three-socket fluted copper base, estimate $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy Rago’s. L. & J.G. Stickley two-door bookcase (no. 645) with 12 panes per door, gallery top and keyed-through tenons, unmarked, 55¼ inches by 51 inches, estimate $3,750-$4,750. Image courtesy Rago’s. Marie Zimmermann rare brass-plated copper covered box, its lid with a dainty silver filligree medallion over an ivory finial, 3¾ inches by 8 inches, stamped M. Zimmermann Maker, estimate $800-$1,200. Image courtesy Rago’s. Signed Lainer Meaders face jug with granite teeth and matte and glossy dark green glaze, 10½ inches by 8 inches, estimate $1,000-$1,500. Image courtesy Rago’s. Lalique Ambre for D’Orsay perfume bottle in clear and frosted glass with blue patina, 5¼ inches tall, estimate $1,000-$1,500. Image courtesy Rago’s.
This costume jewelry pin that looks like a bouquet of violets was made by Mazer. The flowers are white metal covered with purple and green enamel. The 3-inch pin sold for $58 at a Morphy Auction in Denver, Pa.
Costume jewelry is among the best-selling collectibles in the United States today. Much of the costume jewelry made in the mid-20th century is well-designed and was created with materials that have lasted. Pieces usually are more durable and less expensive than modern costume jewelry. One of the well-known names in costume jewelry of the 1930s to the 1970s is Mazer. Joseph Mazer and his brother Louis founded Mazer Brothers in New York City in about 1927. Their jewelry was marked “Mazer,” “Mazer Bros.” or “Sea-Maze.” In 1940, they separated and Joseph started Joseph J. Mazer and Co., better known as Jomaz. His company marked jewelry “Jomaz,” “Joseph Mazer” or “Mazer.” It closed in 1981. Louis continued to work for the original company until 1951. That company went out of business in 1977. Flower pins, ribbon and bow pins featuring colored enamels, faux pearls and Swarovski crystals and rhinestones were among the Mazer brothers’ early designs. Sterling silver, gold-plated sterling and rhodium-plated metal were used in later pieces. All of the brothers’ jewelry was carefully made and sold originally at middle-range prices.
Q: I have an antique artificial leg with a peg foot that I was told dates from the Civil War era. It’s wooden with a hinged metal brace at the knee and a leather case that could be attached above the knee with laces.
A: You will have to take your prosthetic leg to a medical museum in your area to precisely date its origin, but it sounds as though the leg could date from the Civil War era. That’s when battlefield amputations led to extensive research in artificial limbs. In fact, one of the war’s early amputees, a Confederate soldier from Virginia named James E. Hanger, designed a leg for himself in 1861 and later founded a company to manufacture prosthetic legs. The company, now called Hanger Orthopedic Group, is based in Bethesda, Md., and makes all sorts of prosthetic devises for injured U.S. soldiers. The value of Civil War-era artificial legs ranges widely depending on several factors, including whether an expert has determined its age. We have seen them sell for hundreds into the low thousands. Some museums accept them as donations.
Q: I have an antique library table that has a mark on the bottom of the desk drawers that says “Wolverine, Detroit, 1887.” What can you tell me about this company?
A: The Wolverine Manufacturing Co. was organized by Frederick B. Smith in 1887. He started the furniture company with 12 men and $10,000. The company specialized in manufacturing library and parlor tables. By 1908 Wolverine claimed to be the largest manufacturer of its kind in the world. The company was out of business by 1919. An average-quality library table by a maker that is not well known is worth about $300 to $500 – in other words, it’s worth its “use” value.
Q: I have a vase with a circular mark on the bottom that includes the words “Arequipa, California” around a drawing of a vase under a tree. It has been in the family for years. Is it valuable?
A: Arequipa Pottery was made by patients at the Arequipa Sanatorium in Marin County, Calif., from 1911 to 1918. The sanatorium treated women and girls with tuberculosis. The pottery was established to give the patients something to do. Patients were taught by Frederick H. Rhead, a well-known potter who had worked at Roseville Pottery. Your vase has an early mark used when Rhead was there, from 1911 until 1913. Arequipa Pottery with this mark brings the highest prices today. Vases sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars.
Q: Our historical society has a woven rug that a visitor told us was a valuable “Brussels carpet.” It’s 70 x 82 inches with a seam down the middle. What can you tell us?
A: A “Brussels carpet” is a patterned carpet made of colored worsted yarns drawn up in loops through a foundation of strong linen thread. It’s named after the capital of Belgium, where this type of carpet was first made in 1799. But widespread production of Brussels carpets didn’t happen until 1849, when the Bigelow Carpet Co. was founded in Clinton, Mass. Erastus Bigelow had already invented a power loom for weaving carpets, and his additional invention of a mechanism to create patterned Brussels carpet is what helped the industry take off. Up to five colors were used in a row, but the way the colors alternated made it look like many more. Brussels carpets were much less expensive than the oriental rugs well-to-do U.S. families were using to cover floors, so the carpets could be found in middle-class as well as upper-class homes.
Tip: Maroon and yellowish chrome-green were never used to decorate porcelains during the 18th century. Another dating clue: Almost all 18th-century porcelain figures have brown eyes.
Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or e-mail addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
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CURRENT PRICES
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
Plastic book-shaped Magilla Gorilla bank, by Ideal, also pictures Ricochet Rabbit, Mushmouse, Droop-a-Long Coyote, Hanna-Barbera, 1964, 4 x 6 inches, $45.
Wright & McGill Eagle Claw Lures cardboard sign, reflective lettering, blue water with fish caught on lure, Denver, 1930, 15 x 22 inches, $90.
Yogi Berra Yoo-Hoo Frozen Energy Bar sign, paper, image of Yogi holding bar, yellow ground, 1960s, 7 x 15 inches, $195.
Madame Alexander Madeline doll, hard plastic, vinyl head, sleep eyes, real lashes, open/close mouth, molded tongue, jointed, blue organdy dress, 1950s, 18 inches, $310.
Schneider glass vase, egg shape, inverted rim, mottled orange, large red flower heads, signed, circa 1925, 9 3/4 inches, $965.
White linen and lace banquet cloth, scalloped lace border, two bands of cutwork embroidery, inner band with fruit baskets, outer with putti, circa 1900, 204 x 67 inches, $1,265.
Phonola Type 547 desk-top intercom, brown Bakelite, output values, dial lamp, push-button, circa 1939, $3,150.
Staffordshire creamware teapot, globe shape, black transfer portrait of Queen Charlotte on one side, crown, symbols and title on other, possibly Wedgwood, circa 1763, 4 3/4 inches, $5,925.
This costume jewelry pin that looks like a bouquet of violets was made by Mazer. The flowers are white metal covered with purple and green enamel. The 3-inch pin sold for $58 at a Morphy Auction in Denver, Pa.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – American Indian tribes should be given the first opportunity to reclaim thousands of ancient Southwest artifacts being seized by the government in its sweeping prosecution of theft and trafficking, the federal appointee in charge of Indian affairs told The Associated Press on Friday.
Tribal leaders will have something to say to the government on this issue, said Larry Echo Hawk, assistant Interior secretary for Indian Affairs.
“The tribes should get first priority,” said. “Native people in their hearts are going to feel a connection.”
Echo Hawk, a law professor on leave from Utah’s Brigham Young University, praised his former student – U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman – for taking a tough stance on looting across tribal and federal lands after decades of government indifference.
The number of defendants in the case has grown to 26 in Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. More indictments are expected out of Arizona.
With the first sentencing Thursday of a major defendant, the government became owner of more than 800 artifacts confiscated from a Blanding, Utah, family. Another five moving vans worth of artifacts have been surrendered by a Colorado antiquities dealer.
Echo Hawk acknowledged repatriating artifacts under federal laws will be arduous. It isn’t always clear which modern tribe can claim ownership of an ancient relic. Sacred and burial objects are supposed to go back to their rightful culture, while the government can keep other artifacts stolen from public lands.
Echo Hawk said he didn’t want to see a wholesale transfer of artifacts squirreled away in public museums. Emily Palus, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s national curator in Washington, D.C., has said it could take years to sort through and properly dispose of the relics.
They range from infant cradle boards to turquoise necklaces, pottery and even human remains – adult molars and infant teeth.
Investigators shared photographs of the seized items with the director of the bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education.
“I looked at those things and didn’t want to see them,” Echo Hawk said. “Many of them would be sacred, part of a burial, private – I didn’t want to look at them. People were trading them, making profits from them, like commodities in the marketplace.”
Echo Hawk, 61, a member of the Great Plains’ Pawnee tribe, took over an agency in May that was marked by a lack of leadership during the Bush administration. It changed directors six times in eight years, with the post left vacant for two of those years.
“The tribes have enormous expectations with the Obama administration,” said Echo Hawk, who has been traveling widely to get a firsthand assessment of problems in Indian Country – the agency is a trustee for 66 million acres of land. “They’re expecting us to deliver.”
The post is tough under the best of circumstances. Echo Hawk, of Orem, Utah – he keeps an apartment in Arlington, Va. – said he was dealing with issues like competing licenses for gaming that often pit tribe against another.
For the past dozen years, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been embroiled in a lawsuit over Indian trust land. The long-running suit claims the Indians were swindled out of billions of dollars in oil, gas, grazing, timber and other royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887.
Echo Hawk was in Salt Lake City on Friday to deliver a keynote speech for the 57th annual Utah State History Conference.
He delivered a characteristically moving speech that covered the sweep of U.S.-Indian relations. Echo Hawk, who carries a heavy burden of injustice, emphasized atrocities committed against American Indians in early U.S. history. By the end he was fighting tears, and he received a standing ovation from the crowd at Salt Lake City’s library.
For a second time in weeks at a Utah conference, Echo Hawk detailed his own difficult decision to accept the job and become a “face” for a federal government with a sordid history of mistreating Indians. He finally reconciled his hesitation by vowing to be an “agent for change” instead of a mere caretaker.
For Echo Hawk, the challenge is trying to solve two centuries of tragedy and injustice in the 39 months he’ll have as an appointee in Obama’s first term in office.
“How do you eat an elephant? You eat it one bite at a time,” Echo Hawk said. “How do you reverse 200 years of struggles? It’s not going to be easy.”
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
John Charles Gilkey is an obsessed, unrepentant book thief who has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of rare books. Image courtesy Putnam/Riverhead, Penguin Group (USA).
Over a period of about 10 years, beginning in the late 1990s, book collectorJohn Gilkey of Modesto, Calif., acquired an impressive array of rare first editions by authors including Mark Twain, Beatrix Potter and Vladimir Nabokov. Money was no object because Gilkey didn’t buy his books. He stole them.
As veteran journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett relates in her skillfully composed true-crime debut, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, Gilkey used worthless checks and stolen credit card numbers to defraud dealers, large and small, out of more than $100,000 worth of coveted volumes. A master of self-justification as well as self-enrichment, Gilkey maintained that it was “unfair” for dealers to charge more than he could afford for the books he desired. Theft, he reasoned, was simply an equitable means of redistributing the wealth.
During his crime spree, Gilkey attracted the attention of Ken Sanders, owner of a Salt Lake City bookstore and security chairman for the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Tracking Gilkey across the country, Sanders devised a cunning trap to snare the book thief, successfully putting him in prison – albeit only for a short time.
Bartlett’s eminently readable account of the cat-and-mouse game played by Sanders and Gilkey is notable not only for its fluid presentation but also for the depth of the research upon which it draws. Bartlett conducted extensive interviews with the book thief and his pursuer, gaining the confidence of both men, who shared their stories with an oftentimes surprising candor.
The initial contacts between Bartlett and Gilkey, which occurred while the latter was incarcerated at the Deuel Vocational Institution, 65 miles north of San Francisco, introduce an unexpected note of levity into the narrative. Unfamiliar with the prison’s rules forbidding metal objects, the intrepid reporter has to dash out to her car to remove her underwire bra. Her sense of culture shock only grows once she gets a look at life “on the inside.”
With a keen eye for detail and a measured sense of pacing, Bartlett offers an insightful look at the psychology of the most eccentric of criminals in this swift, entertaining volume about what happens when a love of books takes a sinister turn.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Philip Guston (American, 1913 – 1980) was a painter and printmaker in the New York School. His self-portrait is in ink on Books & Co. paper bag. It carries a $20,000-$30,000 estimate. Image courtesy Bloomsbury Auctions.NEW YORK – Bloomsbury Auctions will disperse Portrait of the Artist: The Burt Britton Collection at auction on Thursday, Sept. 24 beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
This private collection of 1,200 refreshingly spontaneous self-portraits offers unique insight into the creative process that will fascinate collectors, curators, biographers and the public alike.
How we see ourselves often differs radically from how others do. How might a novelist such as Cormac McCarthy, jazz pioneer Miles Davis or an architect like Frank Gehry depict himself? Would self portraits by painters like Philip Guston or David Hockney be any more revealing than those of Paul Newman or gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson? What about Muhammad Ali or original punk Patti Smith?
Burt Britton got his answers on paper when he asked the famous and the not-yet-famous he encountered to pick up a pen and draw themselves.
For more than 30 years Britton was at the cultural intersection of New York, first at the celebrated Strand Book Store in Greenwich Village and later at Books & Co. on the Upper Eastside. Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, John Updike, William Styron, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Susan Sontag, Gloria Steinem, Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Sam Shepard, Robert Motherwell, Larry Rivers, François Truffaut, Woody Allen, Dustin Hoffman, and Lauren Bacall are but a handful that supplied themselves sometimes whimsical, sometimes telling self-portraits.
Raold Dahl dashed his off on a leaf of discarded manuscript. Jamie Wyeth drew himself as a hog. Edward Gorey portrayed himself as one of his carefully crosshatched cats. Maurice Sendak, of course, was a Wild Thing.
The collection includes a dozen Nobel Prize nominees or winners, twice that number of Pulitzer winners and numerous recipients of the National Book Award. Oscar and Grammy winners are represented as well in this remarkable collection, a unique cultural archive of the literary and artistic life of late 20-century New York.
Bloomsbury’s gallery in New York is located at 6 W. 48th St. For details phone 212-719-1000.
View the fully illustrated catalogs and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
An important abstract expressionist painter and member of the New York School, Robert Motherwell’s self-portrait is indicative of his style and employs the abstracted brushstrokes typical of his best-known works. The pencil and acrylic paint portrait has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Image courtesy Bloomsbury Auctions. Indiana native Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007) illustrated his off-beat novels like ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ with sketches similar to his self-portrait. Image courtesy Bloomsbury Auctions. The author of many novels, Tom Robbins is best known for his ‘Another Roadside Attraction’ (1971), ‘Even Cowgirls Get the Blues’ (1976) and ‘Skinny Legs and All’ (1990). His mixed media self-portrait has a modest $1,200-$1,800 estimate. Ronald Mallory (American, b. 1939) is an artist and sculptor best-known for his kinetic art and holograms. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His self-portrait done for Burt Britton has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate.
This quintet of musical figures was excavated from Han Tomb I in 1972. Image courtesy Hunan Provincial Museum.
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – More than 2,000 years ago, a Chinese marquis and his family began their plans for the afterlife with three lavish tombs in Hunan Province, which were excavated in the 1970s. For the first time in the United States, their extraordinary existence will come to life in the exhibition Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, China (3rd Century BCE – 1st Century CE).
Nearly 70 treasures including lacquer ware, wood carvings, jade ornaments, bronze sculptures, seals, and silk costumes and textiles from the Hunan Provincial Museum will be on view at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art from Sept. 19 through Dec. 13, after an exhibition at the China Institute in New York City earlier this year.
The excavation at Mawangdui in southeastern China is considered one of the major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The tombs containing the remains and possessions of the Marquis of Dai and his wife and son were found between 1972 and 1974 in the archaeological site of Mawangdui, which is located in a suburb of the modern city of Changsha, Hunan Province. More than 3,000 objects from the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 25) were found in extraordinary condition representing the highest levels of workmanship. The tomb that housed the wares most represented in the exhibition, also held the remarkably well-preserved body of the noblewoman of the family, known affectionately as “Lady Dai.”
“People during the Han dynasty regarded death as birth and longed for immortality,” said Willow Hai Chang, director of the China Institute Gallery. “To prepare for the afterlife, they constructed their tombs to be eternal residences. As a result of this landmark excavation, we now have a rare window into the fascinating Han civilization through these remarkable objects of the highest artistry.”
The extraordinary significance of this assemblage is not only apparent in the variety and quality of objects, but also the period and place from whence these artifacts originated. The Changsha Kingdom was heir to the Chu culture in southeastern China. It played a significant role in the cultural formation of the Han dynasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220), a defining period in Chinese history that shaped the artistic, intellectual, political, religious and social foundations of Chinese civilization. The objects preserved in the Mawangdui tombs give a visual dimension to early Han Dynasty beliefs, design and technology, while the body of material culture challenges us to re-evaluate our current understanding of early China.
Works in the exhibition showcase those items that were felt to have great meaning to the owner, thereby deeming them necessary in life after death. Many of the objects preserved delicate or perishable materials, such as food, drink and cosmetics, mostly fashioned with wood, silk and paper. Some specific highlights include a two-tiered cosmetic box containing nine small boxes, thought to have belonged to Lady Dai. The outer surface of the box is coated with black lacquer and then affixed with patterned gold foil, and the interior coated with vermilion lacquer. The nine small boxes in the lower tier contained items that could have been found on many women’s dressing tables at the time: cosmetics, rouge, silk powder pads, combs and a needle case.
Of course, what would a journey be to the afterlife without the joy of music. Five charming wooden figurines of musicians, which seem to form a small family band, are included in the exhibition, indicating the importance of song and dance to the tomb occupant. The figures are painted in black and vermilion to depict their faces and colorful gowns.
The tombs at Mawangdui also contained a stunning amount of information in the form of books and tablets on health, well-being and longevity. These findings are particularly intriguing as they represent some of the earliest examples of a cohesive writing style including the Chinese characters that are utilized today. One inscribed tablet refers to dried soybean seeds that have germinated and were used in the treatment of headache, paralysis, asthma and other health problems. Another book, entitled Prescriptions for Maintaining Health, was written on silk and contains 32 different medical prescriptions.
The exhibition also features one remarkably preserved silk robe and textile fragments two of which are the world’s earliest known examples of printed and painted design on gauze weave. From these superb examples, silk was widely used among nobilities in early Han dynasty. The technology of silk production and textile making reached an unprecedented height that is rarely surpassed today. Hunan embroidery remains one of the four celebrated styles of embroidery in China.
Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, China is organized by the China Institute Gallery in collaboration with the Hunan Provincial Museum, and is curated by Chen Jianming, director of the Hunan Provincial Museum, who also edited the catalog. A fully illustrated, bilingual catalog accompanies the exhibition.
Free Lecture Series
The Mawangdui finds have spurred enormous scholarly interest. In this multidisciplinary lecture series, specialists in art, archaeology, history and literature will discuss the noble tombs and Chu culture of the Changsha Kingdom, underscoring the significance of Mawangdui by drawing attention to the Yangtze River region as a conduit for cultural exchange and innovation during the early Han dynasty.
All lectures are free and will be held in the Mary Craig Auditorium. Seating is limited.
Mawangdui and Its Place in the History of Chinese Funerary Customs
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
The rich finds from the Mawangdui tombs document local religious conceptions concerning death and the afterlife during the early Han period. Archaeological research over the past half-century allows us to trace the origins of this belief system back to earlier epochs and places. This lecture will show how various customs attested at Mawangdui had developed previously, and it will draw contrasts to contemporaneous practices in other parts of China. Lecturer: Lothar von Falkenhausen, professor of Chinese Art History and Archaeology at UCLA and director pro tem of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA.
Roaming in the Celestial Realm: Immortality and the Imagination in Han Dynasty China
Sunday, Oct. 4, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Among the motifs decorating Han dynasty mortuary objects, including those found in the tomb of the noblewoman at Mawangdui, are clouds and creatures representing an “other world” through which the soul journeys after death. These motifs are especially prevalent in tombs of the first half of the Han dynasty and are clearly relatable to the growth of what has been labeled the immortality cult-a melding of longstanding religious notions of what happens after death with a popular fascination with the idea of attaining everlasting life. Expansion of the Han Empire during this time further fueled the imagination of what lay beyond. This lecture will survey and contextualize many of the exquisite objects found in Western Han tombs, including the famous painted banner and coffins of Mawangdui, to demonstrate the creative burst of artistic imagination that accompanied the speculative flights of Han dynasty belief. Lecturer: Peter Sturman, professor of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, Department of the History of Art and Architecture at UCSB.
Rethinking Early China in Light of the Mawangdui Finds
Sunday, Oct.18, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Many of the archaeological discoveries at Mawangdui have great artistic merit and aesthetic appeal. Beyond these qualities, however, the Mawangdui finds suggest that certain of our assumptions about early China, until now based on Confucian canonical texts, need serious reconsideration. As such the archaeological finds at Mawangdui are a powerful reminder of the narrowness of the elite textual tradition and the important place that should be given to evidence of material culture in our reconstructions of ancient civilizations. This talk examines the ways that the Mawangdui finds challenge us to rethink our understanding of early China. Lecturer: Ron Egan, professor of Chinese Literature and Aesthetics, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at UCSB.
Artisans of Ancient China
Sunday, Nov. 15, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
In viewing objects like those found at Mawangdui, their anonymous creators generally remain in obscurity. This lecture focuses on these oft forgotten individuals, the men and women who crafted objects in private workshops and government factories during the Han Dynasty. Among the topics to be discussed are artisan training, societal perception, tools and techniques, and marketing. Special attention will be given to lacquer workshops and artisans, like those that produced the beautiful pieces in the current exhibition. Lecturer: Anthony Barbieri-Low, associate professor of Ancient China, Chinese Archaeology, and Epigraphy, Department of History at UCSB.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that presents internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities around the world.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St., Santa Barbara, Calif., is open Tuesday – Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Monday. Phone 805-963-4364 or visit the Web site www.sbma.net.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
A cloud pattern and inscriptions ‘Jun Xing Jiu’ and ‘Si Sheng,’ are found on this lacquer flanged cup. Image courtesy Hunan Provincial Museum. Archeologists found this lacquer two-tiered cosmetic box containing nine small boxes in Han Tomb I. Image courtesy Hunan Provincial Museum. ‘Prescriptions for Maintaining Health’ were copied onto this silk page more than 2,000 years ago. Image courtesy Hunan Provincial Museum. This silk cloth is decorated with Chengyun embroidery having a double bird and lozenge design. Image courtesy Hunan Provincial Museum.
Accented with silver inlay, this bronze Chinese vessel known as a ding dates to the Han Dynasty. Image courtesy William J. Jenack Auctioneers.CHESTER, N.Y. – William J. Jenack Auctioneers has a lineup loaded with antiques and fine art to be sold Sept. 20, and while many men will be preoccupied watching the Jets Patriots football game, some savvy sportsmen will compete for a 16-foot vintage Peterborough canoe. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The Model No. 4 Pleasure “cedar rib” canoe was built in the 1930s and restored at the Adirondack Boat Building School at Great Camp Sagamore, Raquette Lake, N.Y., since 2000. This classic watercraft carries an $800-1,200 estimate.
A collection of Asian antiques includes a Chinese silver inlaid bronze ding from the Han Dynasty (207 B.C.-A.D. 220). The 7 1/2-inch high covered pot has a $45,000-$60,000 estimate.
Antique furniture at the sale will include a John Henry Belter carved and laminated rosewood slipper chair. This Victorian staple stands 38 1/2 inches high and holds a $3,000-$4.000 estimate.
A Mattie Berhang (American, 1919-1990) bronze group depicting The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from an edition of eight cast in 1973, has a $3,000-$5,000 estimate.
Folk art will include an 1880s gilded copper weather vane of the racehorse Black Hawk. The 26-inch-long figure with matching directionals has a $1,000-$1,500 estimate.
The 378-lot auction will also include English and Continental furniture, art glass and cut glass, 19th- and 20th-century porcelains, and Oriental rugs and carpets.
For inquiries, phone 845-469-9095. The auction will begin at 11 a.m. Eastern.
View the fully illustrated catalogs and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet during the sale at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Bernard Lorjou (French, 1908-1986) painted this ‘Still Life With Flowers,’ which is estimated at $4,000-$6,000. The oil on canvas painting measures 46 by 35 1/2 inches. Image courtesy William J. Jenack Auctioneers. Roman Bronze Works Foundry cast Mattie Berhang’s ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ in 1973. The bronze group is 27 inches high and 30 inches wide. Image courtesy William J. Jenack Auctioneers. Authentically restored about eight years ago, this vintage Peterborough ‘cedar-rib’ canoe is ready for action. The 16-foot Pleasure Model No. 4 has an $800-$1,200 estimate. Image courtesy William J. Jenack Auctioneers. Five layers of laminated rosewood enabled John Henry Belter’s craftsmen to produce the dramatic carving on this 19th-century slipper chair. Image courtesy William J. Jenack Auctioneers.
