Image courtesy of USPS. WASHINGTON (AP) – The Negro Leagues take the baseball field again on Thursday as the Postal Service honors the organizations that gave black players a chance to show their talents before the major leagues were integrated.
A pair of 44-cent commemorative stamps will be dedicated in ceremonies at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.
One stamp shows a close play at home plate, while the other commemorates Andrew “Rube” Foster, founder of the leagues that operated from 1920 to 1960.
Legendary stars who played in the leagues included Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, James “Cool Papa” Bell, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1945.
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Online: http://www.usps.com
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Internet auction site EBay is being sued for $3.8 billion for allegedly infringing on patents held by XPRT Ventures LLC for its payment systems.
XPRT Ventures, which represents holders of the patents, on Tuesday sued eBay and its subsidiaries – PayPal Inc., Bill Me Later Inc., Shopping.com Inc. and StubHub Inc. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Delaware.
XPRT, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, accuses eBay of violating six patents that let shoppers make purchases online using alternative forms of payment instead of their credit cards, among other processes.
EBay did not immediately return a call for comment.
XPRT’s attorneys say the patent holders aren’t seeking an injunction but want to be “fairly compensated” for their ideas.
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The British Museum, London. Wikimedia Commons image, GNU Free Documentation License.
LONDON (AP) – Demonstrators have poured sticky black liquid around a statue in the British Museum to protest its sponsorship by BP PLC.
The museum says the liquid was molasses and no damage was done to the 3,000-year-old carving of a human head and torso from Easter Island.
Protest group Culture Beyond Oil said in a statement that it chose the object because it “represents the way in which civilizations once considered invincible can collapse in a short period of time.”
The huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill has emboldened environmentalists calling for arts bodies to stop taking money from oil companies. London has seen a series of small protests outside museums and galleries sponsored by BP.
The British Museum said Tuesday it was grateful for BP’s ongoing support.
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LANCASTER, Pa. – The premier reference book for antique, vintage and modern dolls – Jan Foulke’s Guide to Dolls – will soon be back in print with the announcement that Synapse Publishing LLC of Lancaster, Pa., is taking over publication of the title.
Authored by internationally known doll authority Jan Foulke, the illustrated price guide’s debut edition was published by Bangzoom in 2006. After the publisher went out of business, the title lay dormant for four years. Now Synapse has stepped in to revive the book, whose second edition may hit bookshelves in time for the holiday season in December. The publisher anticipates a first run of 20,000 copies and a retail price around the $25 mark.
“The name ‘Jan Foulke’ is synonymous with accurate doll information,” said Robert A. Deraco, president of Synapse Publishing. “Previously, Jan authored 16 editions of the Blue Book of Dolls & Values. She is the most quoted source in her area of expertise, and we felt it was a great loss to the doll hobby not having her knowledge out there for collectors, auctioneers and appraisers to access. Since the publication of Jan’s first edition of the Guide to Dolls, there has been a huge interest from collectors who have been asking for it. There was a definite void in the marketplace without this price guide.”
The softcover second edition of Jan Foulke’s Guide to Dolls will include professionally designed layouts with approximately 500 top-quality, full-color photographs of dolls from five of the country’s most outstanding collections. “One of the collections includes around 100 dolls, some having an individual value of more than $100,000,” said Deraco. “The owner has bought only the best of the best for a number of years, and we were honored to be invited to shoot the collection.” Additional images have been sourced from the archive of Dan Morphy Auctions, which has presented several prestigious doll collections in its past sales.
Foulke’s book is expected to be around 300 pages in length – roughly one-third larger than the first edition printed in 2006 – and will include a limited number of advertising positions. It will be available to purchase through amazon.com or by direct order from the publisher. A reduced price will be available for wholesale orders of 12 copies or more.
A feature that Deraco believes will be embraced by those who travel or conduct business via the Internet is the “one-day pass,” which will enable users to view the price guide online for any 24-hour period after paying a nominal fee. “We are in the process of building a Web site at www.jansdollbook.com where anyone can pre-order the book and, later, access content from a virtual version of the book through a searchable, constantly updated database,” said Deraco.
Author Jan Foulke, who has embraced the project with great enthusiasm, remarked, “I am extremely happy that this book is being given new life. Now I’ll be able to grant the requests of the many doll collectors who’ve told me they’re eager for a new edition to come out. The book will encompass all types of antique, vintage and modern dolls, and will cover a range of price points, not just the very high end.”
For additional information about Jan Foulke’s Guide to Dolls, e-mail Robert Deraco at rderaco@synapseresults.com or call 717-735-8311.
About Jan Foulke:
Jan Foulke began her odyssey in the doll world in 1972 when she and her husband, Howard, opened a small antique shop. With Howard by her side to handle the photography, Jan went on to write several important doll books in addition to the aforementioned “Blue Book,” which was published for 15 consecutive years. Jan has been a regular contributor to Doll Reader magazine for 33 years and currently writes the popular Antique Q&A column. The Foulkes serve as expert doll consultants to Dan Morphy Auctions, for whom they handle doll consignments and provide catalog descriptions. Additionally, the couple represents the auction house at doll shows around the United States.
Circa-1900 Tiffany Studios stained-glass lamp screen, est. $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Fairfield Auction.
NEWTOWN, Conn. – Fairfield Auction will conduct its next estate auction on Saturday, July 17, starting at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and featuring Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The evening sale will include some 300 lots of American and European furniture, fine art, jewelry, silver, carpets and accessories, with a special highlight being a Tiffany Studios leaded-glass Dragonfly lamp screen.
A virtually identical example of the Tiffany design is pictured in Alistair Duncan’s reference titled Tiffany Lamps and Metalware. Lamp screens were among the fancy goods offered for sale with Tiffany lamps. They were attached to a large lamp’s finial by chain and suspended below the shade.
Other 20th-century items to be auctioned include an L. & J.G. Stickley oak Morris chair, a collection of Maxfield Parrish prints, including large-folio Stars; vintage travel posters and a silver and bronze desk Art Deco desk clock by Eterna. A Hans Olsen breakfast set and Oscar Bach telephone stand will also be sold.
A large group of jewelry includes items from abandoned safety deposit boxes consigned by The Bank of New York, Mellon. Additionally, a group of silver dollars includes the rare 1893-S Morgan, estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
Furnishings are led by an excellent George III mahogany chest on chest with ogee feet. Additionally, a Regency mahogany dumbwaiter and a pristine Victorian papier-mache tilt table and side chair will be sold. A Louis Phillipe Lit d’Alcove, an impressive cast-iron hall rack and a French rosewood marquetry cylinder desk will also cross the auction block.
Artworks to be sold include three works by Ben Benn, including a large oil titled Bathers. Works by Gerrit Hondius, William Walls, Helen Hyde, Lawrence Mazzanovich and Karel Heymans, as well as signed prints by Norman Rockwell and Fairfield Porter will be offered, as well. An original illustration of Elvis Presley by C. Michael Dudash for T.V. Guide includes a copy of the published cover.
Other items of interest include a Remington rolling block carbine, a group of contemporary Kachina dolls including one by Shona Hah, more than 20 lots of estate silver, a 15-inch carved Maori figure and a group of vintage baseballs with signatures of famous Dodgers Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax, Gil Hodges, Jim Gilliam and more.
For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Fairfield Auctions at 203-364-1555 or e-mail jack@fairfieldauction.com.
18th-century Italian Rococo giltwood mirror, est. $400-$600. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Fairfield Auction. Ben Benn, Bathers, 24 in. by 18 in., dated 1961, est. $1,500-$2,500. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Fairfield Auction. George III mahogany chest on chest, est. $2,500-$3,500. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Fairfield Auction. 1893-S Morgan silver dollar, est. $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com and Fairfield Auction.
Hawaiian Coat of Arms on the gates of Iolani Palace, Honolulu. 2007 photo by Paul Kao, appears through Creative Commons Share-Alike 3.0 License HONOLULU (AP) – An antique chair dropped off at the Academy Art Center by an anonymous donor turns out to have been commissioned by Queen Liliuokalani for the Iolani Palace Blue Room.
Iolani Palace Collections Manager Malia Van Heukelem spotted the chair Thursday a few hours after it was left at the center.
Van Heukelem says the red velvet has replaced the chair’s blue upholstery, so she wasn’t immediately sure if it was one of 10 chairs commissioned by the queen.
A note left with the chair said it came from the estate of Herminia Laola Ross of Honolulu. She died last year.
The Academy of Arts plans to return the 150-year-old chair to Iolani Palace next week.
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Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, http://www.staradvertiser.com
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