Sideshow Collectibles, which offers licensed products from a number of companies, is one of the show’s big exhibitors. Their selection of new and upcoming material this year includes this bust of Spider-Man’s foe, The Green Goblin. Photo by Michael A. Solof. Following the opening on Preview Night on Wednesday, Comic-Con International: San Diego, which was only open to vendors, professionals and attendees who had purchased a pass for the subsequent four days in advance, it was clear that the convention had lost none of its luster.
As with every year for the past five, there were many pronouncements in the entertainment media that 2011 would be remembered as the year that the movie studios deserted Comic-Con. While there are indeed fewer potential blockbuster films among the exhibitions, the increase in television shows – both new and returning – on display more than puts lie to the dire predictions.
One of them, which in particular might be of interest to aviation memorabilia collectors, is the new ABC series Pan Am, which is set in the 1960s and slated to debut this fall. With a booth staffed by stewardesses in period uniforms, they gave away hundreds if not thousands of modern replica Pan Am flight bags. As a result, the famous and once-ubiquitous Pan Am globe logo found itself being carried into panel discussions for Star Wars, into food and beverage lines at the snack counters, and ended up being stuffed with the day’s purchases by many collectors. It was an inspired bit of advertising for the show, whether all who saw them are yet aware or not.
The demographic shift of Comic-Con, once almost a boys-only club, continues. The trend in recent years has turned it into a family event, with a solid mix of men, women and children, though it’s still a tough grind for most young children and both programming and other opportunities for them are limited.
Tapping into Comic-Con’s enthusiasm for the Friday, July 22, release of Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avenger, Metropolis Collectibles and Comic-Connect.com unveiled what they dubbed “The Super Soldier Collection,” a collection of rare, vintage Captain America Comics and related titles with an estimated value in excess of $1 million.
The collection consists of more than 250 Golden Age (1940s-1950s) comic books in mid to high grades and includes a number of highest graded and second-highest graded copies, including a CGC-certified 7.0 copy of Captain America Comics #1, the character’s first appearance.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Dark Horse Comics President Mike Richardson, who has expanded his reach into Hollywood with properties such as The Mask, announced a new line of horror-themed comics including one by director Guillermo Del Toro (‘Pan’s Labyrinth’). Photo by Michael A. Solof.Continuing the cooperation seen in the popular Super Bowl commercial with the little Darth Vader, artist Ken Lashley was in the convention hall’s Star Wars pavilion, working on illustrating the outside of a Volkswagen Passat in ‘Star Wars: Attack of the Clones’ livery. Photo by Michael A. Solof.At the front of the San Diego Convention Center, the crowd arrived on foot, via shuttle busses from the local hotels, and on local rail. A veritable hive of activity throughout the course of the day, the area was almost impassable at opening and closing. Photo by Michael A. Solof.
Antiques Roadshow appraiser Lark Mason with the collection of Chinese rhinoceros-horn cups appraised at the TV show’s stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Image copyright Antiques Roadshow, used by permission.
TULSA, Okla. – On Saturday, July 23, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, PBS’s Antiques Roadshowrecorded the highest-value appraisal in the series’ 16 years of production. Veteran Roadshow Asian arts expert Lark Mason identified a collection of five late 17th/early 18th-century Chinese carved rhinoceros-horn cups and valued the set at $1 million to $1.5 million.
The second highest-value appraisal recorded by Antiques Roadshow was for a collection of Chinese carved jade bowls, estimated to be worth as much as $1.07 million, discovered at the event in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2009.
The rhino-horn cups were brought to the Tulsa Convention Center by one of approximately 6,000 ticket holders. The owner, who prefers to remain unidentified, told Mason he started collecting cups inexpensively in the 1970s and had no idea of the collection’s current value. Because of today’s strong market for Chinese antiques and antiquities, the collection’s value has increased dramatically since its original purchase.
Antiques Roadshow Executive Producer Marsha Bemko commented on the record-breaking find: “As we continue our 16th season production tour here in Tulsa, we couldn’t be more excited about such an extraordinary, rare treasure, and we look forward to sharing it with the nation!”
Tulsa was the fourth stop on Antiques Roadshow’s six-city 2011 production tour. The three episodes produced from the Tulsa event will air as part of Roadshow’s sixteenth season, from January to June 2012.
Antiques Roadshow’s summer 2011 production tour will continue in Atlanta on August 6 and wrap up in Pittsburgh on August 13. Tickets to Roadshow events are free, but have already been distributed. Additional tickets are not available.
More information about Antiques Roadshow’s summer 2011 production tour is available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/faq_02.html
Nine-time Emmy® Award-nominated Antiques Roadshow is produced for PBS by WGBH Boston. Executive producer is Marsha Bemko.
Antiques Roadshow is sponsored by Liberty Mutual and Subaru. Additional funding is provided by public television viewers.
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Antiques Roadshow appraiser Lark Mason with the collection of Chinese rhinoceros-horn cups appraised at the TV show’s stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Image copyright Antiques Roadshow, used by permission.Collection of five late 17th/early 18th century Chinese carved rhinoceros-horn cups appraised for $1M to $1.5M on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow. Image copyright Antiques Roadshow, used by permission.Expert Lark Mason (left) breaks the good news to the anonymous owner of the Chinese rhino-horn cups that his mini trove is worth $1-$1.5 million. Image copyright Antiques Roadshow, used by permission.
Brunk Auctions devoted an entire page in the color catalog to Edward Atkinson Hornel’s Music in Japan, a 24 ¼” X 15-7/8” oil on canvas painting of a seated shamisen player. The 1894 painting opened at its reserve of $22,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $114,000. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The four lots consigned by the last remaining descendant of a young Civil War officer were, quite possibly, the most personal in Brunk Auctions July 16-17 sale. Richard Kidder Meade Jr. (1835-1862) was a U.S. Army lieutenant during the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 12-13, 1861. Two weeks later, Meade, a native Virginian, resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Army. The West Point graduate helped defend Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, N.C., and in early 1862, was promoted to major and assigned to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s staff. The young officer died of typhoid fever on July 31, 1862.
Included in the Meade collection was a handwritten condolence letter from Lee to Meade’s mother expressing his sorrow at “the untimely death of your gallant Son,” a man Lee called a “noble young patriot.” The one-page signed letter dated Aug. 9, 1862, sold for $15,600 (est. $4000-$8000). All selling prices include a 20 percent buyer’s premium.
It was the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia infantry battle flag that many wanted. Possibly given to Maj. Meade’s family or acquired by him during his three battles, the hand-loomed natural dyed wool flag was the iconic symbol of the Confederacy. Phone and on-site bidders carried the flag into battle and raised it to $84,000, far above its $5,000-$10,000 estimate.
The Meade collection also included a fragment of the garrison flag that flew over Fort Sumpter ($3,120) and a Meade family archive of letters, books and paintings ($9,000). The archive sold to an on-site bidder, a collector of North Carolina history.
“It was very difficult to part with these items,” said the consignor after the sale. She is the last of the family line. “I tried last summer to put them up for sale, but couldn’t do it. This summer I thought this is the best way to reach people who would appreciate these objects.” She attended the sale with her husband and met the gentleman who purchased the family archive. “I can tell you she was surprised at the selling prices,” said her husband.
The sale’s top lot predated the Civil War by almost 100 years. It was an 18th-century map of North Carolina by Capt. John Abraham Collet. Collet, an aide-de-camp to William Tryon, royal governor of North Carolina, used survey data gathered by William Churton to complete his map. The exquisitely detailed map, 30 1/2 inches by 44 1/2 inches, served as the prototype for most maps of North Carolina for the 40 years following its creation. Brunk staffers found previous auction records for two of the 12 copies of the Collet map: 1967 at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, and 1999 at Sotheby’s, New York. The map opened at its $36,000 reserve and, aided by active phone and on-site bidders, soared to $192,000 (est. $40,000-$60,000).
Six paintings were among the sale’s top 10 lots. The leader was Music in Japan, an 1894 oil on canvas by Edward Atkinson Hornel (Scottish, 1864-1933). Music opened at its $22,000 reserve and sold to the phones for $114,000 (est. $30,000-$50,000).
The second highest painting was a depiction of the journey of Evangeline, the Acadian exile in search of her lover, who was immortalized by poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The signed, dated (1884) and titled oil on canvas by Joseph Rushing Meeker (Missouri, 1827-1889) in its original 19th-century giltwood and composition frame, opened at its $9,000 reserve. It sold for $72,000, tripling its high estimate.
Two scenes of hunting dogs painted by Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (1819-1905) did well. Tait, America’s first important sporting artist, immigrated to the United States from England in 1850. His landscapes and wildlife paintings were realistic, detailed and colorful. A Close Point, a painting with two spaniels and grouse in a woodland scene, graced the front cover of the Brunk Auction catalog. The signed, dated (1885-6) and titled oil on canvas was illustrated in the 1986 Tait biography by Warder H. Cadbury and Henry F. Marsh. Point opened at $16,000 and sports collectors on the phone, in house and on-line chased it to $66,000 (est. $20,000-$30,000).
Another Tait painting, Prairie Shooting was also included in the Tait biography. Prairie Shooting depicted a bearded hunter, two dogs and two grouse. The reserve of $7,500 was easily met and the painting sold to a delighted phone bidder for $36,000 (est. $12,000-$18,000). A third Tait painting with an identical estimate, A Covey of Grouse (10 3/4 inches x 15 1/2 inches) brought $21,600.
The hunters in Ogden Minton Pleissner’s The End of the Day, Duck Shooting looked weary as they unloaded their flat boat after a successful outing. Ogden Pleissner (Vermont-New York, 1905-1983) loved nature, wing shooting and fishing, subjects he painted in oil and watercolor. Beginning in the mid-1920s he traveled to the Western United States in the summer and throughout New England and the South the rest of the year. At $43,200 (est. $20,000-$30,000), The End of the Day, Duck Shooting was the sixth highest lot of the sale.
“The market for fine antique and sporting firearms is strong,” said Auctioneer Bob Brunk. Of the 100-plus antique firearms and edged weapons in the sale, two were clear standouts. A Guilford County longrifle by William Lamb with curly maple stock, silver and brass inlay and leaf and floral engraving was the top rifle. Lamb was one of the early members of a longrifle school operating in Guilford County in the early 19th century. Similar rifles are illustrated in William Ivey’s new book, North Carolina Schools of Longrifles 1765-1865. The 1830-1840 rifle easily doubled its estimate to sell for $18,000.
Of the nine Colt revolvers in the sale, star billing went to a model 1873, .45 caliber “Peacemaker” with all its visible serial numbers matching. The revolver was accompanied by a leather U.S. Army holster and belt with brass buckle. The set hit the top of its estimate and sold for $12,000 (est. $5000-$10,000).
For information on future sales at Brunk Auctions, visit www.brunkauctions.com or call 828-254-6846.
Arthur F. Tait’s A Close Point, a 16 ¼”X 24-1/8” oil on canvas of ruffed grouse and spaniels, sold for $66,000. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.Prairie Shooting by Arthur F. Tait was signed and dated (1876). The 9 ½” X 12½” oil on canvas brought $36,000 (est. $12,000/$18,000). A third Tait painting with an identical pre-sale estimate, A Covey of Grouse (10 ¾” X 15½”) brought $21,600. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.Ogden Pleisser’s The End of Day, Duck Shooting opened at its $16,000 reserve. The 16” X 20” oil on canvas in its original Newcomb-Macklin frame sold to the phones for $43,200 (est. $20,000/$30,000). Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.Collet’s 30 ½” X 44 ½” map of North Carolina, was published in London, 1770. With fresh colors, the unframed map was the top lot of the sale at $192,000 (est. $40,000/$60,000). Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.St. Louis bridge engineer Charles Shaler Smith commissioned Joseph Rushing Meeker to paint Longfellow’s heroine, Evangeline, an Arcadian exile, searching for her love, Gabriel. Meeker’s 14” X 20” signed and dated (1884) oil on canvas sold for $72,000. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.The Guilford County School of riflemaking was active from 1795 to 1902 and became the largest in North Carolina and the South. Their longrifles were known locally asRobert E. Lee sent his condolences to Julia Haskins Meade on the death of her son, Major Richard Kidder Meade in a hand written letter dated August 9, 1862. Included with the letter was the hand-addressed envelope with a five cent stamppostmarked. “We kept the letter wrapped up and never took it out in the light,” said the consignor. The letter sold for $15,600. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.This 46 ½” X 50” Confederate battle flag descended in the family of Major Richard Kidder Meade, a Confederate officer who died of typhoid fever in 1862. The iconic symbol of the Confederacy sold for $84,000. “If I had realized its worth, I might have displayed it,” said the consignor. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.Brunk Auctions devoted an entire page in the color catalog to Edward Atkinson Hornel’s Music in Japan, a 24 ¼” X 15-7/8” oil on canvas painting of a seated shamisen player. The 1894 painting opened at its reserve of $22,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $114,000. Image courtesy of Brunk Auctions.
Painted ovals by Baja Lives! The setting sun only enhances the color scheme. Photo by Kelsey Savage Hays. NEW YORK – It’s been a while since I’ve run or biked the Williamsburg Bridge, but I went last night for a ride. These colorful ovals, creating a funnel-like image, caught my attention as I approached the city on the blessed downhill ramp. At first, I thought they were ceramic tiles, but in fact, the art installation is made of paper. Called The Bridge Comes Alive, it is one of the ongoing, collaborative public art creations by a group of artists that go by Baji Lives! More of their dots can be found at 20 Jay St., where they form a trailing kite, and 15 Rivington St., where they make an abstract design.
Baja Lives! successfully installed the rainbow shapes on a night a few weeks ago—just a couple of artists, a ladder, and their bikes. Now the creation brightens the way of commuters making their way into the city—funny how a relatively simple and inexpensive project (painted and cut paper, after all) can be so beautiful.
Painted ovals by Baja Lives! The setting sun only enhances the color scheme. Photo by Kelsey Savage Hays.The dots appear only to those approaching Manhattan. Photo by Kelsey Savage Hays.The shape of the dots mimics the windows on the buildings lining the end of the bridge. Photo by Kelsey Savage Hays.
Tayler (Anglo/American, 20th/21st century) Racing Yachts. Signed ‘D. TAYLER’ oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches, framed. Estimate $1,000-$1,500. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – Affordable paintings, antique prints and contemporary works by listed artists are featured along with country Americana in the July 27-28 Skinner Discovery Auction. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Interneet live bidding.
Skinner holds estate furniture, antiques a collectibles auctions in Massachusetts monthly at its Marlborough gallery at 274 Cedar Hill St. These auctions attract a wide range of attendees who enjoy the monthly two-day 1,200-lot offering of American, European and Asian furniture, decorative arts and collectibles.
Representations of maritime art in various media and New England artists complement the 19th, 20th century offerings in Wednesday afternoon’s session, which starts at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Country American furniture, stoneware, textiles and metalwork are featured on Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m., as is a collection of American brilliant period cut glass and European painted bisque figures and figure groups.
According to Kerry Shrives, vice president and senior appraiser, “Skinner’s Discovery auctions offer opportunities to bid on, and buy, quality, affordable antique furniture and decorative works of art.” Shrives continued, “These sales present a chance to own items designed and crafted in New England in the 18th and 19th centuries. And, pieces of American history can’t be purchased at the store.”
While buyer’s inadvertently come across treasures in Skinner’s monthly Discovery auctions, for collectors who know exactly what they’re looking to buy, Skinner’s lot alert lets them know when items of interest are up for sale. Keywords entered on the site will turn up matching searches to the collector via email.
Previews will be held Tuesday, July 26, from noon-5 p.m., Wednesday, July 27, from 10 a.m.– 6 p.m. and Thurs, July 28, from 9-10 a.m.
Printed catalogs are available for purchase at the gallery for $9. For questions regarding property in the auction, please contact the Discovery Department at 508-970-3202 or email discovery@skinnerinc.com.
Skinner galleries are located in Boston and Marlborough, Mass. For more information on upcoming auctions and events, visit Skinner’s web site www.skinnerinc.com.
Pair of Continental painted bisque 18th century-style fancy dressed boy and girl figures, 17 1/4 inches. Estimate $200-$300. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.Sidney T. Callowhill hand-painted Aztec-style decorated porcelain plate, signed on reverse with stylized ‘Sidney T. Callowhill,’ diameter 7 3/4 inches. Estimate $200-$300. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.Queen Anne carved walnut dressing table with paw feet. Estimate $600-$800. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.Seven assorted mochaware items. Estimate $400-$600. Image courtesy of Skinner Inc.
View of the top of Jonathan Wright’s 20-ft. RARE LOVE installation. Image courtesy of Jonathan Wright.
FOLKESTONE, England (ACNI) – Award-winning artist Jonathan Wright, who was featured in a previous article on Auction Central News, reports that the opening of the Folkestone Triennial Fringe was a “massive success,” adding, “The event has already attracted over 30,000 visitors in its first two weeks.”
No doubt one of the main attractions is Wright’s 6-meter-high (nearly 20-ft.) aluminum and copper installation titled RARE LOVE, recent images of which are shown here. The tower captures transmissions of love stories told by local characters including H.G. Wells, Joseph Contrad, Logie Baird and William Harvey, Wright said, explaining that the goal of his installation if “to reinvigorate local interest in this history.”
Wright is a Royal College of Art graduate and recent Arts Council of England award recipient whose artworks are held in major institutions and private collections the world over. In support of his RARE LOVE project he also was awarded a $1,000 grant from the LiveAuctioneers Arts and Charitable Fund.
A blog and dedicated page for those who wish to monitor the progress of the RARE LOVE radar tower online may be viewed at www.jonathanhwright.com.
Copyright 2011 Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
View of the top of Jonathan Wright’s 20-ft. RARE LOVE installation. Image courtesy of Jonathan Wright.Full view of the RARE LOVE tower. Image courtesy of Jonathan Wright.
President Bill Clinton presented Rosa Parks with an award at the White House. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. DETROIT (AP) – A lawyer involved in a long-running dispute over the estate of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks claims that a judge allowed two other lawyers to pile up fees that ate away about two-thirds of the estate’s $372,000 cash value.
The financial condition of Parks’ estate was outlined in a recent filing with the Michigan Supreme Court by Steven Cohen, who represents Parks’ caretaker Elaine Steele and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development, the Detroit Free Press reported Thursday.
“Since Mrs. Parks’ death … the court system of her adopted city has embarked on a course to destroy her legacy, bankrupt her institute, shred her estate plan and steal her very name,” Cohen said in the filing.
The legal filing contends that Wayne County Probate Judge Freddie Burton Jr. allowed lawyers John Chase Jr. and Melvin Jefferson Jr. to get fees that drained nearly $243,000 from the estate.
Messages seeking comment were left Thursday by The Associated Press for Chase and Jefferson.
Parks left virtually all her estate to the institute, which was founded to teach young people leadership and character development. The dispute involves Parks’ relatives and what share of Parks’ estate they should get.
Cohen wants the state Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision that stood behind Burton’s handling of the case. Michigan Court of Appeals also credited Chase and Jefferson for increasing the value of the estate by recognizing the worth of Parks’ memorabilia, which is expected to be sold at auction.
Burton told the Free Press: “Unfortunately, I can’t say anything at all because it’s a pending case. It’s a very controversial case, and I certainly will wait to see what the Supreme Court decides.”
Lawrence Pepper, a lawyer who represents Parks’ nieces and nephews, defended the lawyers and Burton.
“I have no issues with what Chase and Jefferson have done, and the judge has conducted the proceedings in a fair manner,” he said.
Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white man. Parks died in 2005 at age 92.
In the filing, Cohen also claims that the coat Parks wore on the bus ride is missing. He said it would be a valuable part of Parks’ memorabilia collection.
Pepper said Parks gave it to one of her nieces who was attending college in the ’60s or ’70s and didn’t have the coat. He said the niece wore it and eventually got rid of it.
“She didn’t realize it had any value,” Pepper said.
Guernsey’s Auctioneers in New York is trying to sell Parks’ memorabilia. Its president, Arlan Ettinger, said it wants to sell the collection to an institution that can care for and use it to educate and inspire future generations.
“In difficult economic times, very few museums are sitting around with huge bank accounts ready to spend,” he said. “That’s why this has been a long haul. In the end, I feel this will come to a happy conclusion that will make everyone proud.”
___
Information from: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-07-21-11 2259GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
President Bill Clinton presented Rosa Parks with an award at the White House. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
A clock tower and adjacent tourist center are at Ash-Shuhada Square in downtown Nablus. Image by Tiamat. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. NABLUS, West Bank (AP) – Archaeologists unearthing a biblical ruin inside a Palestinian city in the West Bank are writing the latest chapter in a 100-year-old excavation that has been interrupted by two world wars and numerous rounds of Mideast upheaval.
Working on an urban lot that long served residents of Nablus as an unofficial dump for garbage and old car parts, Dutch and Palestinian archaeologists are learning more about the ancient city of Shekhem, and are preparing to open the site to the public as an archaeological park next year.
The project, carried out under the auspices of the Palestinian Department of Antiquities, also aims to introduce the Palestinians of Nablus, who have been beset for much of the past decade by bloodshed and isolation, to the wealth of antiquities in the middle of their city.
“The local population has started very well to understand the value of the site, not only the historical value, but also the value for their own identity,” said Gerrit van der Kooij of Leiden University in the Netherlands, who co-directs the dig team.
“The local people have to feel responsible for the archaeological heritage in their neighborhood,” he said.
The digging season wrapped up this week at the site, known locally as Tel Balata.
The city of Shekhem, positioned in a pass between the mountains of Gerizim and Eibal and controlling the Askar Plains to the east, was an important regional center more than 3,500 years ago. As the existing remains show, it lay within fortifications of massive stones, was entered through monumental gates and centered on a temple with walls five yards thick.
The king of Shekhem, Labaya, is mentioned in the cuneiform tablets of the Pharaonic archive found at Tel al-Amarna in Egypt, which are dated to the 14th century B.C. The king had rebelled against Egyptian domination, and soldiers were dispatched north to subdue him. They failed.
The city also appears often in the biblical narrative. The patriarch Abraham, for example, was passing near Shekhem when God promised to give the land of Canaan to his descendants in the Book of Genesis. Later, Abraham’s grandson Jacob was camped outside the walls when a local Canaanite prince raped his daughter, Dinah. Jacob’s sons sacked the city in vengeance. The body of Jacob’s son Joseph was brought from Egypt hundreds of years later by the fleeing Israelites and buried at Shekhem.
Two millennia ago, the Romans abandoned the original site and built a new city to the west, calling it Flavius Neapolis. The Greek name Neapolis, or “new city,” later became enshrined in Arabic as Nablus. In Hebrew, the city is still called Shekhem.
Nablus has since spread, and ancient Shekhem is now surrounded by Palestinian homes and car garages near the city’s eastern outskirts. One morning last week, a garbage container emitted smoke from burning refuse not far from the remains of the northwestern city gate in a curved wall built by skilled engineers around 1600 B.C.
A visitor can walk through the gate, passing through two chambers before emerging inside the city. From there it is a short walk to the remains of the city’s temple, with a stone stele on an outdoor platform overlooking the houses below.
The identity of the city’s residents at the time remains unclear. One theory posits that they were Hyksos, people who came from northern Syria and were later expelled from Egypt. According to the Bible’s account, the city was later Canaanite and still later ruled by Israelites, but archaeology has not corroborated that so far, van der Kooij said.
A German team began excavating at the site in 1913, with Nablus under the control of the Ottoman Turks. The dig was interrupted by World War I but resumed afterward, continuing sporadically into the 1930s under British rule. Much of the German documentation of the dig was lost in the Allied bombings of World War II.
American teams dug at the site in the 1950s and 1960s, under Jordanian rule. Israel conquered Nablus, along with the rest of the West Bank, in the 1967 Mideast war.
Over the years, the site fell into disrepair. The neglect was exacerbated after the first Palestinian uprising in the late 1980s, when Nablus became a center for resistance to Israeli control.
Its condition further deteriorated after the second, more violent, uprising erupted in 2000, drawing Israeli military incursions and the imposition of roadblocks and closures that all but cut the city off from the outside world. In recent years, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority increasingly asserting security control over the cities of the West Bank, Israel has removed some roadblocks and movement is less restricted.
Visitors to Nablus are still rare, but the improvements helped convince the archaeologists that the time had come to resume work.
The new excavations and the establishment of the archaeological park are a joint project of the Palestinian Tourism Ministry, the Dutch government and UNESCO. The project began last year and is scheduled to end with the opening of the park in 2012.
In Israel, archaeology, and especially biblical archaeology, has long been a hallowed national pursuit traditionally focused on uncovering the depth of Jewish roots in the land. For the Palestinians, whose Department of Antiquities was founded only 15 years ago, the dig demonstrates a growing interest in uncovering the ancient past.
The department now has 130 workers and carries out several dozen rescue excavations every year on the sites of planned building projects in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority, said Hamdan Taha, the department’s director. Ten ongoing research excavations are being conducted with foreign cooperation.
All of the periods in local history, including that of the biblical Israelites, are part of Palestinian history, Taha said.
Digs like the one in Nablus, he said, “give Palestinians the opportunity to participate in writing or rewriting the history of Palestine from its primary sources.”
Copyright 2011 Associated Press All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Top lot of the sale, French circa-1914 bisque doll created by sculptor Albert Marque, 22 inches, signed and incised with the number ‘12,’ $168,000. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (LAPRS) – Sculpted by the renowned French artist Albert Marque (1872-1939), an extremely rare 1914 portrait doll originally commissioned for the Paris boutique Margaine-Lacroix sold to rousing applause for $168,000 (inclusive of 12% buyer’s premium) at Frasher’s July 9 auction. The buyer, who beat out four phone bidders and additional on-site bidders at the KCI-Expo Center in Kansas City, was new to Frasher’s client roster.
“The winning bidder is a collector of French dolls and German character dolls, and they obviously go for the very best,” said Barbara Frasher, president of Frasher’s Doll Auctions.
As noted by doll historians, during World War I, Albert Marque was persuaded by Parisian couturier Jeanne Margaine-LaCroix to sculpt 100 fashion dolls, each signed, numbered and clothed in a custom-designed costume representing royalty or a particular region of France. The exquisite 22-inch dolls were celebrated by the French not only as important artworks but also as cultural icons that stood up proudly to the influx of wartime dolls from Germany.
The doll in Frasher’s sale was numbered “12,” making it a very early and desirable example. “I have only seen two other A. Marque dolls at auction with an earlier number,” said Frasher. “While it has been said that 100 of these dolls were commissioned, that number is speculative. The highest number I have ever seen on this type of doll was around ‘60.’”
Frasher said the quality of sculpting on the A. Marque doll is “exquisite…You can tell that it was the work of an accomplished sculptor, not only from the quality of the doll’s head, but also the hands. The bisque head and limbs were added to a uniquely flared torso designed by French artist Aristodema Botta. The entire presentation is very unusual.” The doll was a popular attraction at the auction preview, Frasher said, because many collectors had never before had the opportunity to examine a rare A. Marque doll in person.
In 1993, Frasher’s made headlines with another French doll. The rare, 23½-inch exhibition model depicting an elegant Creole lady was made by Jumeau expressly for the 1884 World Exposition in New Orleans. At Frasher’s, it sold for $231,000, and in so doing, set a world auction record for a French doll – a distinction that remained unchallenged for 17 years.
The A. Marque doll in the July 9 sale came from one of three private collections featured in Frasher’s 277-lot sale. After the event, which grossed $418,670, dolls were shipped to points throughout the United States as well as to Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Barbara Frasher noted that approximately 20% to 25% of the sale was sold over the phones, with significant underbidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The top lot purchased online was a circa-1880 French bisque, wood-bodied fashion doll attributed to Louis Doleac, which realized $10,305.
Another highlight was the especially nice 24-inch bisque Bebe Triste by Emile Jumeau, with very finely painted facial features and blue paperweight eyes that rendered a melancholy expression. The doll settled at the midpoint of its estimate, selling for $15,680.
Another fine Jumeau, a circa-1878 Premiere Bebe, was noted as being the earliest of its particular type. Described in the auction catalog as having “superb complexion, modeling and expression, and exceptional eyes,” the 15-inch bisque beauty featured an excellent original body, wore a fine fitted silk couture costume and bore a “Jumeau Medaille d’or Paris” stamp. It sold within estimate for $7,280.
Other notable lots included a circa-1850s Mme. Leontine Rohmer petite poupee, 14 inches in length, with rare swivel-neck design and almond-shape cobalt glass eyes. Its all-original body included porcelain forearms. The coveted French fashion doll clothed in a deep-burgundy gown and straw bonnet exceeded its presale estimate to finish at $6,325.
Additional highlights included a classic 1872 Bru bisque poupee, 16 inches with “E” mark, $3,737; a petite Steiner bebe, 10½ inches with a label from the Parisian doll shop Au Nain Bleu, $3,920; and a highly sought-after model of the Emile Douillet Jumeau bebe with “E.D.” signature, $4,600. An 18-inch Francois Gauthier (F.G.) French bisque bebe with an “A La Tention, Guyot” shop label was bid to $5,040.
A section of the sale that “caught fire” with collectors was the extensive offering of doll costumes and clothing. “Some of the dresses brought as much as $1,500; and some of the bonnets went for $500 to $600. There’s a huge interest in accessories and clothing,” said Frasher. “Costuming a doll to make it one’s own is something collectors really enjoy. The highest prices are paid for antique clothing in good condition, but there’s also a strong market for contemporary productions made to look like period clothing.”
Frasher, whose doll-auction business is now in its 29th year, said gloomy economic news has not deterred collectors from bidding on dolls. She believes that, overall, the doll market is stronger than some other avenues for investment. “Collectors have concluded that owning dolls brings them enjoyment and that they are a pretty sound investment over the long term. They’re not like a stock. You can hold them in your hand and enjoy them. The fact that there are still a lot of quality dolls coming onto the market and attracting good prices is a positive sign.”
Frasher’s Doll Auctions will hold its next event on Nov. 5-6, 2011, again at the KCI-Expo Center. The approximately 300-lot sale will have a heavy emphasis on French and other high-quality dolls. The inventory will also include a large selection of vintage costumes, dresses, bonnets and accessories. Quality consignments are currently being accepted for Frasher’s January auction in Scottsdale, Arizona – now a 20-year tradition with antique doll buyers.
To contact Frasher’s Doll Auctions, call 816-625-3786 or e-mail frasher@aol.com.
View the fully illustrated catalog from the July 9 auction, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.
Petite Steiner bebe with ‘Au Nain Bleu’ shop label, 10½ inches, $3,920. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.Circa-1850s Mme. Leontine Rohmer poupee with rare swivel neck and cobalt glass eyes, 14 inches, $6,325. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.Emile Jumeau Bebe Triste, 24 inches, $15,680. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.Emile Douillet Jumeau bebe with ‘E.D.’ signature, introduced in 1892 and produced for only a short period of time,Circa-1870 Louis Doleac signed French bisque poupee, $9,200. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.1872 French bisque poupee by Bru Jeune et Cie., 16 inches with ‘E’ mark, $3,737. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.Francois Gauthier (F.G.) French bisque bebe with ‘A La Tention, Guyot’ shop label, 18 inches, $5,040.Circa-1878 Jumeau Premiere Bebe, 15 inches, a coveted example of the earliest of Jumeau’s bebes, $7,280. Image by Frasher’s Doll Auctions.
Rare Fenton turquoise blue urn in Hanging Vine motif, with cobalt blue base. The 10 1/2 inch vase was made by a group of European workers who were employed by Fenton in 1925-26. Sold in Randy Clark & Associates’ Nov. 9, 2008 auction for $7,564. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com archive and Randy Clark & Associates Auctioneers.
WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Those who had gathered in this town along the Ohio River found their recent trip to be bittersweet.
Local residents and visitors gave what might be a final goodbye to Fenton Glass after the company announced earlier this month it was shutting down its main furnace, bringing an end to over a century’s worth of glass making that has been a staple on collectors’ shelves across the country.
While the company may retool and focus more on industrial glass and specialized glass beads used in jewelry, the milk glass lamps, colored glass roosters and specialty molded hand bells will soon be a thing of the past.
On July 8, the company began what looks to be its final summer tent sale — an annual draw for Fenton collectors from far and wide that will run for the next few weeks.
Husband and wife David and Mickey Fisher make the trek each year from their home in Butler, Pa.
David, 80, joked that his wife’s collection of milk glass exceeded the hundreds of items found under the Fenton tent.
Mickey was shocked when she learned that the only thing the company will have left to sell off now is the inventory left inside the factory.
“I don’t know what it is, I just like it,” she said.
Suzy Evans, 24, and her husband Justin, 27, of Marietta, Ohio, were looking forward to building their collection of Fenton Glass over the years. Their goal might be harder now.
“We were bummed,” Suzy Evans said. “It’s sad to see it go.”
Suzy said as she was growing up in Ohio, her family would make regular trips to the factory to shop.
“For us, it was more than just a collectible, it’s something my family’s always had,” Evans said. “I’ve seen it all my life and I’ve grown up around it.
“It started with my great-grandpa, he always collected a piece, and it just went down the line. We’d keep adding and we pick up different pieces each year, now it’s going to be really hard to keep collecting.”
Fourteen-year Fenton employee Susan Wilson, one of the tent managers, said customers had been reacting with shock and surprise all morning.
“I had a customer from Youngstown this morning and she just broke down bawling this morning, it was terrible,” Wilson said.
While she faces losing her job once the inventory is sold off, Wilson said what’s going to be hard is having to say goodbye to all the loyal customers she’s met over the years.
“Fenton is more than just the glass you sell, but the people you meet,” Wilson said. “We’ve made friends from all across the country. They come from all over, toward the end of July we have our collectors conventions and then you’ll really see people from all over.”
Ellen Mead, 57, came all the way from Grand Junction, Colo.
Mead’s great-grandfather used to work at Fenton as a glass blower in the factory’s early days. When she and her 81-year-old father Hal Sheppard come back to the area each year for their family reunion, they like to drop by the factory and pick up another small collectible.
With the factory closing, Mead feels like she’s not just losing a part of her family’s history, but a piece of that social fabric that’s made America so great over the years.
“It feels like we have so many losses in America anyways, this feels like another loss,” she said. “We just don’t get to keep what we have anymore.”
Fenton Glass has been family owned since it started up 106 years ago. President George Fenton said a confluence of factors led to the decision to shut the main furnace down.
He cited the high cost of running the gas-powered furnace, compared to sales that have been hit hard by the recent recession and a generational shift in consumer behavior.
Fenton said people’s buying habits have changed very dramatically over the past decade. He said collectibles companies nationwide – not just Fenton – are suffering because consumers are less interested in giving collectibles as gifts in favor of buying more fashionable items like electronics.
The new gadgets not only are more expensive gifts, but also take bigger chunks out of consumers’ future discretionary spending.
“If you buy an iPhone or something like that, you’ve got a bill every month — it’s the gift that keeps on taking,” he said.
On top of that, Fenton said they’ve steadily lost the host of small, mom-and-pop gift shops across the country that sold Fenton glass.
“The small, independent retailer is significantly decreasing in the number of places where this product is sold,” he said. “That’s been the bread and butter of our sales for many years.
“Just the number of these stores have dropped around 30 percent in the past five years.”
Taking their place are the larger big box and national retail chains across the country — chains that are more interested in selling items made cheaper by overseas manufacturers.
And that’s a fact that’s led to some bitterness among the Williamstown community.
“I think if people weren’t more willing to buy cheap stuff from China, then we’d still be in business,” said Martha Reynolds, a former director of marketing for the company who left in 2001. She was catching up with some of her old friends during the tent sale.
“A lot of people have just been shocked,” Reynolds said. “It’s just a sad day — there’s a lot of good people here.”
Kerri Griffith was one.
She’s the current marketing manager in the gift shop and a 35-year veteran of the company, who began there when she was 16 and since then has taken just four years off to go to college.
She’s an employee wondering what’s going to happen once the gift shop closes down and there’s nothing left to sell. She doesn’t know what’ she’s going to do once that happens, but she says she’s staying positive.
“You know, when one door closes, another one opens,” she said.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
# # #
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Rare Fenton turquoise blue urn in Hanging Vine motif, with cobalt blue base. The 10 1/2 inch vase was made by a group of European workers who were employed by Fenton in 1925-26. Sold in Randy Clark & Associates’ Nov. 9, 2008 auction for $7,564. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com archive and Randy Clark & Associates Auctioneers.
