The Antiques Roadshow game enables the user to find valuable hidden antiques in more than 30 detailed locations, then have them restored and appraised at the Antiques Roadshow. Each adventure is a learning experience in which clues are found and deciphered for hidden messages. Image courtesy of WGBH and Antiques Roadshow. Copyright 2008-2011 Namco Networks America, Inc. All rights reserved.

Antiques Roadshow now an interactive game for PC

The Antiques Roadshow game enables the user to find valuable hidden antiques in more than 30 detailed locations, then have them restored and appraised at the Antiques Roadshow. Each adventure is a learning experience in which clues are found and deciphered for hidden messages. Image courtesy of WGBH and Antiques Roadshow. Copyright 2008-2011 Namco Networks America, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Antiques Roadshow game enables the user to find valuable hidden antiques in more than 30 detailed locations, then have them restored and appraised at the Antiques Roadshow. Each adventure is a learning experience in which clues are found and deciphered for hidden messages. Image courtesy of WGBH and Antiques Roadshow. Copyright 2008-2011 Namco Networks America, Inc. All rights reserved.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (BUSINESS WIRE) – Namco Networks, a leading publisher and developer of interactive content, today announced the release of Antiques Roadshow on PC for $9.99, with the iPad version of the game becoming available early next year.

Following the popular PBS television series, the new Hidden Object game includes 30 visually stunning locations with hundreds of antique items. The player guides Julia, a history teacher hired at an antiques shop, through an adventure of lost items and photos as she pieces together the story behind the shop and its owner, Mr. Hinton. As Julia finds the objects, a backstory unfolds revealing its historical significance.

Each location features items in need of refurbishing that players can perform through five unique minigames. Players can then take the items to Antiques Roadshow for appraisal to determine their true value, further propelling the story. The treasure hunts throughout the distinct venues and minigames leave clues aiding her in her mysterious journey.

“We wanted to bring the thrill of discovering unexpectedly valuable items as seen on the show, directly to the player’s home,” said Carlson Choi, vice president of marketing at Namco Networks. “Following the PC launch will be the iPad version early next year, making the game accessible to handheld devices.”

The hit television show began in 1977 and currently generates almost 10 million weekly viewers in the U.S. Antiques Roadshow is the first game Namco has published through a licensing agreement with WGBH and BBC. “Namco’s genius is in taking the most iconic elements of the Antiques Roadshow TV format — narrative, exploration, discovery, and surprise — and using them to create something completely new and fresh,” said Antiques Roadshow executive producer Marsha Bemko.

A free 60-minute trial can be downloaded at namcogames.com/pc_games prior to the game being available on other casual PC game portals, including but not limited to Big Fish Games, Inc. and GameHouse.

About Antiques Roadshow:

Part adventure, part history lesson, and part treasure hunt, eight-time Emmy®-nominated Antiques Roadshow marks its fourteenth season in 2010. In each hour-long Roadshow episode, specialists from the country’s leading auction houses and independent dealers from across the nation offer free appraisals of antiques and collectibles. PBS’s highest-rated series, Antiques Roadshow is seen by almost 10 million viewers each week. Veteran television personality Mark L. Walberg is series host.

About Namco Networks:

Namco Networks America Inc., a subsidiary of NAMCO BANDAI Holdings (USA) Inc., is a global publisher and developer for interactive content across multiple platforms, including mobile, iOS, PC and Web-based casual games. More information about their products can be found on namcogames.com, Facebook or Twitter.

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The Antiques Roadshow trunk design is a trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. “Antiques Roadshow” is a trademark of the BBC and is produced for PBS by WGBH/Boston under license from BBC Worldwide.

Namco and all related logos, designs, and elements are the trademarks and © of Namco Networks America Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

 

1873 model Winchester revolver, estimate $5,500-$7,000, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Universal Live to auction rare 1873 model Winchester revolver, Nov. 5

1873 model Winchester revolver, estimate $5,500-$7,000, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

1873 model Winchester revolver, estimate $5,500-$7,000, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Martin Shape, owner of Universal Live Auctions in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Ill., said he has had a constant stream of potential consignors coming through his gallery lately with choice items from nearly every imaginable category. “In particular, a lot of great military and historical items have been coming out of people’s attics and trunks,” Shape said. “We decided to choose the 175 best items and offer them in a boutique auction on Friday, November 5th. I think collectors are going to be very interested in these pieces.”

The sale, which commences at 2 p.m. Central Time (3 p.m. Eastern), features Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.

Headlining the event is an antique Merwin Hulbert Winchester revolver. The 1873 model is a .44-40 caliber firearm with 7-inch barrel. The overall size of the gun is 12 inches long by 5 inches tall. The exterior is nickel.

Shape noted that the gun was the property of Tony Audino and was among the rarest items contained in Audino’s estate. “Similar revolvers have brought as much as $6,000 to $7,000 online. Our opening bid on the revolver is $2,200, and we expect a lot of bidding activity on this particular lot,” Shape said.

The auction inventory also includes some exceptional World War II Nazi helmets. A Luftschutz air warden’s combat helmet is a relic of Nazi-occupied Holland that has special historical significance. It was issued for use at De Woeste Hoeve, site of a March 6, 1945 incident in which Dutch resistance fighters dressed in German uniforms shot the Nazi Chief of Police, SS General Hans Rauter. Rauter survived but was later captured by the British, who turned him over to Dutch authorities. Rauter was executed by firing squad.

Many other Nazi items of interest to militaria collectors will be offered in the auction. The list includes a Nazi SS double-decal helmet with full liner and chinstrap, Nazi silver Panzer tank badge, and a rare Nazi foreign volunteer Hitler Youth membership pin.

Memorabilia from several other military and historical categories are represented in the sale, including Masonic and Knights Templar. Articles include badges, medals, insignias, coins and paper money.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Martin Shape at Universal Live’s gallery, 847-412-1802 or e-mail sales@universallive.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


1910 original Knights Templar 2-piece medal, Chicago Chevalier, estimate $100-$160, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

1910 original Knights Templar 2-piece medal, Chicago Chevalier, estimate $100-$160, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Nazi Luftschutz SS helmet, estimate $900-$1,300, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Nazi Luftschutz SS helmet, estimate $900-$1,300, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Nazi silver Panzer tank badge, estimate $240-$370, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Nazi silver Panzer tank badge, estimate $240-$370, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

World War II Nazi SS double-decal helmet, estimate $500-$770, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

World War II Nazi SS double-decal helmet, estimate $500-$770, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Rare Nazi foreign volunteer Hitler Youth membership pin, estimate $140-$220, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

Rare Nazi foreign volunteer Hitler Youth membership pin, estimate $140-$220, to be auctioned on Friday, Nov. 5, 2010. Universal Live photo.

E. Howard #61 astronomical regulator, one of the most desirable clocks in the world. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Clocks are wound to get Fontaine’s Nov. 13 auction off to fast start

E. Howard #61 astronomical regulator, one of the most desirable clocks in the world. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

E. Howard #61 astronomical regulator, one of the most desirable clocks in the world. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – An exceptional cataloged antique auction featuring over 500 quality lots will be held Saturday, Nov. 13, at 11 a.m. Eastern by Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

The fresh-to-the-market merchandise will feature period furniture by makers such as John H. Belter, J. & J.W. Meeks, R.J. Horner, John Jeliff and others. An exceptional clock collection will includes an E. Howard #61 astronomical regulator.

“It’s obvious why the E. Howard & Co. clocks and watches fetch such high dollars at auction,” said John Fontaine of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery. “It’s because the company took pride in making only the best timepieces of its era. We have been fortunate to attract several wonderful examples of the E. Howard & Co. #61 astronomical floor standing regulators and other models in our sales.”

The E. Howard & Co. has been producing high-grade watches, regulators and marine clocks since its inception in 1842. Today, E. Howard Co. clocks have evolved into the Holy Grail of American manufacturers in the burgeoning genre of vintage clocks and watch collecting. The firm still exists today, but collectors mainly seek out fine examples from the 19th century.

Among other exceptional clocks in this auction will be a George A. Jones wall clock, a Seth Thomas #60 wall clock, a U.S. Clock Co. wall clock, a Charles Frodsham astronomical wall clock, a three-piece French bronze clock set boasting an owl with a clock face in its breastplate flanked by a pair of owl-themed candleabra, and an elaborate 20-inch-tall figural French mantel clock with nice gilt accents and male and female figures presiding on the top plus others.

Also sold will be lighting by Tiffany Studios, Duffner & Kimberly, Handel, Pairpoint and others, cameo glass, art glass, music boxes, sterling silver, porcelains, Russian enamels, jewelry, fine paintings, bronzes, gold coins, a large collection of Mettlach steins, gaming items, pedal cars, rare carnival glass and hundreds of decorative accessories.

Antique furniture will include a J.&J.W. Meeks laminated and carved rosewood turtle-top marble-top center table, a selection of sofas by Meeks & Belter, and a matching pair of John H. Belter meridiennes in the Henry Clay pattern, as well as a very rare “Patent” Belter armchair. “Many of these furniture items have great provenance and were consigned by prominent estates and collections,” Fontaine said. “The condition and original finish on many pieces are among the best I’ve seen.”

Of the more than two dozen lamps in the auction there will be several by Tiffany Studios, to include a rare 14-inch Damascene floor lamp, and a 16-inch Poinsettia shade with beautiful colors and floral design. The Handel examples include a rare riverbed scenic as well as several florals.

Bronzes will include an inkwell showing a woman in repose by Francois-Raoul Larche (French, 1860-1912), an Art Nouveau sculptor whose work included several figures of Christ, but who is best known for his numerous female figures, both nude and draped. Also offered will be a figural bronze work by Anton Chotka (Austrian, 1852-1925) of two people under a street lamp.

Another figural work expected to do well is a marble sculpture of two women, one carrying the head of a beheaded man, the other looking wistful and forlorn. Art glass will include a multi-hued Quezal cabinet vase and a striking 31-inch Daum Nancy floor vase with yellow and amber coloration and floral décor. Jewelry will feature a spectacular 3-carat brilliant cut diamond ring, a 1.85-carat platinum and diamond pendant, a diamond cluster ring of 7 carats plus about 20 period gold coins.

Rounding out the list of expected top lots is an Emile Puiforcat silver tankard with figural cherub on top and grape leaf and other figural decorations; a stunning Faberge letter opener with purple and gold handle and gold-colored presentation case; and an inlaid National Cash Register cash register in remarkable condition, with all the characters intact.

Previews will be held on Friday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 13, from 8 a.m. until the start of sale. In addition to Internet bidding via LiveAuctioneers.com and www.fontainesauction.net, telephone and absentee bidding will also be accepted. A buyer’s premium of 15 percent will be applied to all purchases made.

The auction will be conducted at Fontaine’s Auction Gallery at 1485 W. Housatonic St. in Pittsfield.

For more information visit www.fontainesauction.net or call (413) 448-8922 and ask to speak to John Fontaine. Or, you may e-mail him at info@fontaineauction.com.

 

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Bronze inkwell by Francois-Raoul Larche (French, 1860-1912), showing a woman in repose. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Bronze inkwell by Francois-Raoul Larche (French, 1860-1912), showing a woman in repose. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Tiffany Studios 14-inch Damascene floor lamp with three draw-pulls and great coloration. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Tiffany Studios 14-inch Damascene floor lamp with three draw-pulls and great coloration. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Lamps will include this Handel desk lamp with dazzling red and pink floral shade. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Lamps will include this Handel desk lamp with dazzling red and pink floral shade. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Figural bronze by Anton Chotka (Austrian, 1852-1925) of two people under a street lamp. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Figural bronze by Anton Chotka (Austrian, 1852-1925) of two people under a street lamp. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

J. & J.W. Meeks rosewood marble-top center table, heavily carved and extremely ornate. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

J. & J.W. Meeks rosewood marble-top center table, heavily carved and extremely ornate. Image courtesy of Fontaine’s Auction Gallery.

Modern medicine, including technology that allows mummies to be non-invasively examined via CT scan, is helping to solve some of the mysteries of Ancient Egypt's civilization. The most recent CT scans taken of King Tut's mummy are part of the Mummies Secrets of the Pharaohs exhibit that will open on Feb. 18, 2011 at the Science Museum of Minnesota. This image is a frame from the video about the exhibition that can be viewed online at www.smm.org/mummies/trailer. Copyright Mummies Secrets of the Pharaohs, Science Museum of Minnesota 2010.

Science Museum of Minnesota mummy to get CT scan

 Modern medicine, including technology that allows mummies to be non-invasively examined via CT scan, is helping to solve some of the mysteries of Ancient Egypt's civilization. The most recent CT scans taken of King Tut's mummy are part of the Mummies Secrets of the Pharaohs exhibit that will open on Feb. 18, 2011 at the Science Museum of Minnesota. This image is a frame from the video about the exhibition that can be viewed online at www.smm.org/mummies/trailer. Copyright Mummies Secrets of the Pharaohs, Science Museum of Minnesota 2010.

Modern medicine, including technology that allows mummies to be non-invasively examined via CT scan, is helping to solve some of the mysteries of Ancient Egypt’s civilization. The most recent CT scans taken of King Tut’s mummy are part of the Mummies Secrets of the Pharaohs exhibit that will open on Feb. 18, 2011 at the Science Museum of Minnesota. This image is a frame from the video about the exhibition that can be viewed online at www.smm.org/mummies/trailer. Copyright Mummies Secrets of the Pharaohs, Science Museum of Minnesota 2010.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ Just in time for Halloween, the mummy at the Science Museum of Minnesota is getting a CT scan.

Staff at Children’s Hospital in St. Paul plan to conduct the scan Friday afternoon.

While the museum already has a scan and other X-ray studies from 1983, researchers hope to learn even more by using modern imaging equipment.

They hope to come away with a 3D model of the mummy’s inner workings and new details about his life, a more precise age and his cause of death. The results will debut ahead of the Feb. 18 opening of an exhibit on King Tut.

The mummy was donated to the museum in 1925. Researchers think he was a priest more than 3,000 years ago during ancient Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, which included King Tut.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Entrance to the Kansas City building that houses both the Negro League Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum. Aug. 1, 2007 photo by SakuraAvalon86. Licensed through Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic licenses.

Executive director of Negro Leagues museum resigns

Entrance to the Kansas City building that houses both the Negro League Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum. Aug. 1, 2007 photo by SakuraAvalon86. Licensed through Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic licenses.

Entrance to the Kansas City building that houses both the Negro League Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum. Aug. 1, 2007 photo by SakuraAvalon86. Licensed through Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic licenses.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Less than two years after he was hired, the executive director of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City has resigned.

The museum says 62-year-old Greg Baker resigned effective Tuesday. No explanation was given for his departure.

The Kansas City Star reports that Raymond Doswell, vice president for curatorial services at the museum, will be the museum’s interim leader.

Baker’s hiring in December 2008 was controversial from the beginning. The museum’s board hired him on an 8-7 vote over Bob Kendrick, the museum’s longtime marketing director.

But board member Mike Kanaley says whatever rift existed over the hiring has been resolved.

___

Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-10-28-10 0945EDT

 

 

Houdini Upside Down in the Water Torture Cell, circa 1913 lithograph, approx. 24 x 16 in. (61 x 40.6 cm), The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, from the exhibition Houdini: Art and Magic at The Jewish Museum, New York.

Houdini’s art and magic on display in New York

Houdini Upside Down in the Water Torture Cell, circa 1913 lithograph, approx. 24 x 16 in. (61 x 40.6 cm), The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, from the exhibition Houdini: Art and Magic at The Jewish Museum, New York.

Houdini Upside Down in the Water Torture Cell, circa 1913 lithograph, approx. 24 x 16 in. (61 x 40.6 cm), The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, from the exhibition Houdini: Art and Magic at The Jewish Museum, New York.

NEW YORK (AP) _ A century after Harry Houdini thrilled audiences with daring escapes from handcuffs, straitjackets and watery tombs, the legendary magician has conjured a major art museum exhibition that explores his enduring legacy.

Houdini: Art and Magic, which opens Oct. 29, 2010 at The Jewish Museum, tells the story of an impoverished son of Jewish immigrants who harnessed the power of the mass media, and the emerging technologies of film and photography, to become one of the 20th century’s most famous performers.

The show is beautifully installed in galleries that feature the semi-dark theatrical lighting and spotlights of the vaudeville halls where Houdini got his start as a stage magician before turning to outdoor escape spectacles.

Scattered amid the historic photographs, art nouveau-era posters and archival films are more than two dozen recent works of art by such well-known artists as Matthew Barney, Vik Muniz and Raymond Pettibon that attest to Houdini’s continuing influence as the consummate illusionist. The museum also displays some of his magic props, including handcuffs, shackles, a straitjacket, a milk can and a packing trunk that were featured in various escape acts.

Though he eventually became an international celebrity, Houdini was from the most modest of circumstances. He was born Erik Weisz in 1874 in Budapest, the son of a rabbi who immigrated to Wisconsin when Erik was a boy. When he was 12, he ran away from home to join the circus, but eventually returned home to help support the family. Tellingly, one of his earliest jobs was as an apprentice to a locksmith.

From an early age, he trained as a runner, swimmer and boxer, developing the physical strength and stamina that let him perform superhuman feats such as escaping, while handcuffed, from a padlocked crate thrown into an icy river.

Only after his father died in 1892 did the teenager launch his career as an entertainer, changing his name to Houdini in honor of the French magician Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin and performing in freak shows and traveling circuses.

Houdini’s big break came in 1899, when he was discovered by the vaudeville impresario Martin Beck and started touring theaters across America and Europe.

Later in life, Houdini sought to debunk the fake spiritualists and mediums who claimed to be able to communicate with the dead. He also published books explaining some of the tricks of his trade, although the exhibition does not reveal any of those secrets.

Houdini died on Halloween 1926 of peritonitis – not trying to escape from a water-filled cell as depicted in the 1953 movie of his life starring Tony Curtis – and was buried in a Jewish cemetery in Queens, New York, where fans still make a pilgrimage on the anniversary of his death.

Curator Brooke Kamin Rapaport suggests that part of Houdini’s appeal lay in the fact that his working-class audiences, many of whom came to America in search of political or religious freedom, identified with Houdini’s immigrant background. His ability to emerge unscathed from handcuffs, chains and packing crates became an inspiring symbol of their own quest for freedom.

Houdini – who often closed his performances by asking “Will wonders never cease? – plays a central role in E.L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime and in Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. The magician David Blaine reveres him, and he is mythologized by the American artist Deborah Oropallo in her oil painting Escape Artist.

The show closes in New York on March 27, 2011, after which it travels to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Madison, Wisconsin.

___

http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-10-27-10 1230EDT


 

Marc Chagall, (Russian, 1887-1985), closeup from the artist's America Windows, 1977. A gift of Marc Chagall, City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board, commemorating the American bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J.Daley. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Marc Chagall windows reinstalled at Art Institute of Chicago

Marc Chagall, (Russian, 1887-1985), closeup from the artist's America Windows, 1977. A gift of Marc Chagall, City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board, commemorating the American bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J.Daley. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Marc Chagall, (Russian, 1887-1985), closeup from the artist’s America Windows, 1977. A gift of Marc Chagall, City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board, commemorating the American bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J.Daley. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

CHICAGO (AP) – One of the most popular attractions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Marc Chagall’s “America Windows,” are returning to public display after a five-year absence.

The monumental stained-glass windows, dominated by deep tones of cobalt blue, commemorate the American Bicentennial and were created by Chagall in honor of the late Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, who died in 1976. They were installed in 1977 and became famous nationwide after they were featured in a scene of the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The windows were removed in May 2005 to protect them during the construction of the museum’s Modern Wing, which opened last year.

The windows return to public view on Nov. 1 as the centerpiece of a new presentation of public art in Chicago.

A special preview for reporters and critics was to be held Thursday.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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ADDITIONAL LOT OF NOTE


Marc Chagall (Russian, 1887-1985), America Windows, 1977. A gift of Marc Chagall, City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board, commemorating the American bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J.Daley. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Marc Chagall (Russian, 1887-1985), America Windows, 1977. A gift of Marc Chagall, City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board, commemorating the American bicentennial in memory of Mayor Richard J.Daley. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

French police recover Roman treasures taken 25 years ago

PARIS (AP) – France’s custom authority says police have recovered sunken Roman coins and a gold plate snatched from an underwater site 25 years ago.

The DGDDI customs authority says the recovered treasures are worth an estimated euro1 million-euro2 million ($1.4 million-$2.8 million).

The plate is considered the star piece of the so-called “Lava Treasure,” discovered by fishermen in the Gulf of Lava, off the western coast of the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

French authorities opened an investigation after some coins from the treasure appeared on the antiquities market. The plate was found to be missing in 1985, and it was feared it would end up on the black market.

In a statement Wednesday, the DGDDI said called the recovery a “historic seizure.”

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-ES-10-27-10 1446EDT

 

Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Audit: Pennsylvania agency is missing historical artifacts

Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A new audit says a state agency can’t locate more than 1,800 historical artifacts, including sculptures and Civil War items.

The review released Thursday by the auditor general’s office found lax oversight and an antiquated inventory system within the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the state Railroad Museum that the commission administers.

Auditor General Jack Wagner says hundreds of other pieces within the collection of about 4.5 million artifacts may also be unaccounted for.

He says the commission doesn’t do enough to preserve artifacts and prevent them from being stolen.

Commission spokesman Kirk Wilson says the agency recognizes the problems but has been hard-hit by budget cuts over the past four years.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Ball Players, a hand-colored lithograph shown as an example of the artist's work. Sold at auction on Dec. 16, 2006 for $4,500 on the hammer by Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers.

Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation lands rare Catlin prints

George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Ball Players, a hand-colored lithograph shown as an example of the artist's work. Sold at auction on Dec. 16, 2006 for $4,500 on the hammer by Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers.

George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Ball Players, a hand-colored lithograph shown as an example of the artist’s work. Sold at auction on Dec. 16, 2006 for $4,500 on the hammer by Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Altermann Galleries and Auctioneers.

WASHBURN, N.D. (AP) – The Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation has bought a collection of rare prints depicting American Indian life in the 19th century.

The 25 prints are of artwork of George Catlin, who traveled in what is now North Dakota in the 1830s and painted portraits of the people he saw and scenes of their daily lives.

President David Borlaug tells The Bismarck Tribune that the foundation paid $85,500 for the prints at Sotheby’s auction house in New York earlier this month.

The foundation also has a collection of art by Karl Bodmer, another painter who visited the region.

___

Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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