A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

New discoveries in Onslows’ poster auction Dec. 9

A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

STOURPAINE, England – Onslows’ winter auction, Friday, Dec. 9, offers some rare posters not seen on the market before. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding for the auction, which will start at 2 p.m. UK.

First up is a wonderful British art deco design, probably by Reginald Higgins, for the London Midland & Scottish Railway titled Best Coast Holiday Coast. The main sheet of a two-sheet design, this unrecorded poster and carries a £1,000-£1,500 ($1,569-$2,354) estimate. Found folded in the bottom of a box of books is an LMS Rhyl beach poster (est £3,000-£3,500, $4,708-$5,492).

Another noteworthy group is a rare group of early Shell posters by the French artist Charles Fouqueray, who is better known for French World War I posters. Also known as lorry bills, these posters were commissioned by Shell in 1925. Onslows will be selling five of the 18 that Fouqueray designed. Perhaps the most evocative of the group depicts Ben Lomond, a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. This poster is estimated at £1,000-£1,500 ($1,569-$2,354).

Onslows also has an excellent collection of early French automobile posters, with estimates ranging from £1,000 to £2,500 ($1,569-$3,923).

British World War II home front posters will also be sold, along with shipping, airlines, railways and other subjects in what Onslows describes as one of their best poster auctions in recent years.


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

A Shell Oil poster by French artist Charles Fouqueray pictures Ben Lomond, a distinctive mountain in Scotland. The 1925 poster, one in a series by Fouqueray, is estimated to bring more than $1,500. Image courtesy of Onslows Auctioneers.

Bally ‘Four Million B.C.’ pinball machine. Estimate $600-$800. Abell Auctions image.

Abell’s Celebrity Collector’s Auction set for Dec. 3 in LA

Bally ‘Four Million B.C.’ pinball machine. Estimate $600-$800. Abell Auctions image.

Bally ‘Four Million B.C.’ pinball machine. Estimate $600-$800. Abell Auctions image.

LOS ANGELES – On Saturday, Dec. 3 at 12 noon Pacific time, Abell Auction Co. will present a special Celebrity Collector’s Auction, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com. The sale consists of 300 lots of American and international film posters, Disneyana, comic books, toys and related art; and first-edition books. Additionally, bidders will be able to choose from an outstanding selection of fine and modern art, designer luggage, furniture and cars.

This auction will feature: a Leica M7 Hermes Edition camera (in original box), Louis Vuitton and Cristofle travel bar set, Louis Vuitton luggage, Ferrari and Lamborghini luggage, a life-size limited edition “Robby the Robot” by Fred Barton, (ed. 14/100), Japanese samurai armor and swords, model trains, exotic humidors, McIntosh stereo components, Ramones electric guitar with dedication from Johnny Ramone, collection of vintage pinball machines, a 1955 Cadillac Series 60 Fleetwood sedan, a male skeleton in a glass enclosure, comic book hero figurines and an important library of first edition books including Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Italian, German, American and Russian film posters include Walt Disney’s Bambi, A Clockwork Orange, Dirty Harry, Blow Up, Il Conformista, The Incredible Shrinking Man and 2001: A Space Oddysey. Italian and French liquor and other advertisements include Massiot Sandeman, Roby’s Toni Kola “La Belle et la Bete,” Viano “Manon,” Licor Sant Jordi and others. In addition, a series of vintage Egyptian and European travel posters will be auctioned.

Disneyana includes posters, original art and cels, a life-size Pinocchio and Mickey Mouse, a “Toady” Mr. Toad’s Ride car along with children’s and novelty vehicles. Highlights include a Pennewitz-designed Porsche 550 Spyder and Lamborghini gas-powered kids car made in Italy by Airboard Hovercraft.

Approximately 50 group lots of comics will be sold, including Tales of Suspense, Mystery Tales, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Suspense, Spellbound, Ghost Rider, etc. A Marvel bronze Spider-Man and Captain America along with various other collectible toys and scale cars, Dick Sprang Batman posters, collectible superhero toys and original art and a larger than life-size “Ghost Rider” chrome sculpture signed S. Segner.

Fine art includes works signed or attributed to William Trost Richards (2), Willem de Kooning, Dey de Ribcowsky, Basil Gogos, Gottfried Helnwein, James Franco, Von Dutch, J. Allen Bentley, Anthony Ausgang, Francis Bacon, Jeff Horn, Michael Knowlton, Gil Dellinger, Curtis Phillips and Pattsi Valdez. Various Tony Upson automotive art will be auctioned, as well.

Furniture and decorative art includes an American carved oak dining room suite, an American Renaissance Revival oak partner’s desk, various Murano and Venetian chandeliers, an Art Nouveau patinated figural bronze fountain (approx. 8ft. high), room-size Sarouks and other Persian carpets, Chinese carpets and fine French crystal and china. Also among the lots are a Versace “Les Tresors de la Mer” dinner service and a set of Baccarat red and clear crystal stem glassware.

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Howard Zellman at 323-724-8102.

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


Bally ‘Four Million B.C.’ pinball machine. Estimate $600-$800. Abell Auctions image.

 

Bally ‘Four Million B.C.’ pinball machine. Estimate $600-$800. Abell Auctions image.

Robby the Robot from ‘Forbidden Planet’ collector's edition, 14/100, 1998 Fred Barton Productions. Scale 1:1, approx. 87 inches high. Estimate $4,000-$6,000. Abell Auctions image.

 

Robby the Robot from ‘Forbidden Planet’ collector’s edition, 14/100, 1998 Fred Barton Productions. Scale 1:1, approx. 87 inches high. Estimate $4,000-$6,000. Abell Auctions image.

One of many comic books to be offered in approximately 50 group lots, with titles including Tales of Suspense, Mystery Tales, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Suspense, Spellbound, Ghost Rider, etc. Abell Auctions image.

One of many comic books to be offered in approximately 50 group lots, with titles including Tales of Suspense, Mystery Tales, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Suspense, Spellbound, Ghost Rider, etc. Abell Auctions image.

Bob Baker Marionettes’ Pinocchio and Mickey Mouse. Collectors Edition for Walt Disney Productions. Pinocchio No. 170/200, Mickey As Sorcerer No. 4/200. Approx. 48 inches tall. Estimate $1,000-$1,500. Abell Auctions image.

Bob Baker Marionettes’ Pinocchio and Mickey Mouse. Collectors Edition for Walt Disney Productions. Pinocchio No. 170/200, Mickey As Sorcerer No. 4/200. Approx. 48 inches tall. Estimate $1,000-$1,500. Abell Auctions image.

Two Japanese suits of armor, Meiji Period. Estimate $4,000-$8,000. Abell Auctions image.

Two Japanese suits of armor, Meiji Period. Estimate $4,000-$8,000. Abell Auctions image.

Porsche Spyder battery-operated kids car, Pennewitz design, serial number 5500086, length 62 inches. Estimate $1,000-$2,000. Abell Auctions image.

Porsche Spyder battery-operated kids car, Pennewitz design, serial number 5500086, length 62 inches. Estimate $1,000-$2,000. Abell Auctions image.

Disneyland ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’ vehicle, leather upholstered back seat, 58 inches long. Estimate $1,000-$1,500. Abell Auctions image.

Disneyland ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’ vehicle, leather upholstered back seat, 58 inches long. Estimate $1,000-$1,500. Abell Auctions image.

The Art Nova section of Art Basel Miami Beach is designed for galleries who wish to present new works from the artists they represent. The art is recent, sometimes fresh from the studio. This image from the 2007 Art Nova captures a crowd near the exhibition space for Salon94, New York. Photo copyright 2011 MCH Group Ltd. All rights reserved.

Art Basel converts Miami into cultural oasis

The Art Nova section of Art Basel Miami Beach is designed for galleries who wish to present new works from the artists they represent. The art is recent, sometimes fresh from the studio. This image from the 2007 Art Nova captures a crowd near the exhibition space for Salon94, New York. Photo copyright 2011 MCH Group Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Art Nova section of Art Basel Miami Beach is designed for galleries who wish to present new works from the artists they represent. The art is recent, sometimes fresh from the studio. This image from the 2007 Art Nova captures a crowd near the exhibition space for Salon94, New York. Photo copyright 2011 MCH Group Ltd. All rights reserved.

MIAMI (AFP) – Miami, once known mostly for its abundance of palm trees and bikinis, is forging a new identity as a world arts capital as it hosts the Art Basel fair, attracting collectors and aficionados from around the globe.

Beginning on Thursday and running through the weekend, Miami’s edition of Art Basel – billed as the most prestigious art show in the Americas – will welcome some 50,000 visitors.

This year marks the 10th anniversary since this American city with a distinctly Caribbean vibe first hosted Art Basel Miami Beach, thousands of miles from its founding city of Basel, Switzerland.

“People from all over the world come here, especially from Europe,” said Cristina Grajales, a gallery owner who originally hails from Colombia, but who now resides in New York and has come to Art Basel Miami for each of the past seven years.

More than 260 of the world’s top galleries from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa will showcase works from more than 2,000 artists.

The exhibit runs parallel to another major happening – Design Miami, a separate exhibit focusing on interior decoration and decorative arts, which also draws thousands of visitors.

Those attending Art Basel will include some of the world’s most well-heeled art investors, many of whom appear to be impervious to the global economic downturn.

In fact, sales have been steadily rising since 2009 and organizers said they expect the trend will continue this year, as investors seek a safe haven from global turmoil.

Gallery owner Marco Berengo, who said that for the most part the attendees “don’t really feel the impact of the financial crisis,” as they set about the business of making new acquisitions for their collections.

“Every single event around Art Basel and Design Miami attracts collectors from around the world, seeking all sorts of art and furniture design, are very valuable customers and they are not affected by the economic crisis,” said Berengo, executive director of the Italian gallery Venice Projects.

The 43rd edition of Art Basel is to be held in the Swiss city next June.

The offshoot in hip, tropical Miami meanwhile melds the sensibilities of both cities, even if the marriage on the surface seemed a bit unlikely.

Miami investors years ago were eager to rehabilitate the tattered image of the city, known at the time mostly as a retirement destination for the elderly and a haven for drug dealers.

As organizers of the Basel event set about seeking a warm weather venue for the winter months, and semi-tropical Miami seemed a good fit.

“Art Basel Miami Beach is much more than an art fair,” said artist Javier Martin, 26, whose works were on display at the Baltus gallery.

“It also represents a movement, where artists can express their ideas, their thoughts, via a very contemporary approach.

Martin’s plastic works, some of which sell for more than $5,000 apiece, are meant to be a “social critique on how things are going from all different angles of society.”

Establishing Art Basel as an annual event here has helped revitalize the city, creating a thriving arts scene in some formerly impoverished neighborhoods.

The event has also helped raised the profile of Miami as a truly international destination and helped to reinvent this once-downbeat parts of this city that was once besieged by drug crime and berated as vapid and anti-intellectual.

The new cottage industry also has given a shot in the arm to the city’s museums and universities, and has helped shore up sagging real estate values

The event this year will see hotels and restaurants reap some $11 million dollars, a four percent increase over 2010.

And Miami being Miami, the event is also an opportunity for high fashion events, including some of the international glitterati’s most breathlessly awaited parties.

The weekend calendar includes an art show sponsored by Louis Vuitton, with special libations supplied by champagne maker Ruinart. Such well known international brands as Fendi, Audi and Veuve Clicquot also are also a visible presence, as they sponsor various receptions and other events during the four-day-long happening.

Meanwhile, the Miami’s main art museum is to host a formal ball, with attendees to include pop diva Gloria Estefan and other luminaries.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


The Art Nova section of Art Basel Miami Beach is designed for galleries who wish to present new works from the artists they represent. The art is recent, sometimes fresh from the studio. This image from the 2007 Art Nova captures a crowd near the exhibition space for Salon94, New York. Photo copyright 2011 MCH Group Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Art Nova section of Art Basel Miami Beach is designed for galleries who wish to present new works from the artists they represent. The art is recent, sometimes fresh from the studio. This image from the 2007 Art Nova captures a crowd near the exhibition space for Salon94, New York. Photo copyright 2011 MCH Group Ltd. All rights reserved.

In Memoriam: Czech illustrator Zdenek Miler, 90

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) – Czech illustrator and animated film director Zdenek Miler, the author of the world-renowned “Little Mole” (Krtek) character, died at the age of 90 Wednesday, Czech news agency CTK said.

Miler produced about 50 films featuring the “Little Mole” and his friends – a mouse, a hedgehog, a hare and a frog – and illustrated more than 40 children’s books with more than five million copies sold.

“Walt Disney used almost all animals in his cartoons, except one – the one that I picked,” Miler said about the “Little Mole,” whom he created after tripping on a molehill during a walk in 1956.

Later in that year, he produced the first “Little Mole” movie, which won a Silver Lion prize at the Venice film festival.

The animal adored by generations of children became a truly universal hero after US astronaut Andrew Feustel – whose wife has Czech ancestors – took a “Little Mole” puppet on space shuttle Endeavor’s last mission in May this year.

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Large 19th-century Chinese jardinière featuring figural courtyard scene of Immortals brought in $9,680. 888 Auctions image.

888 Auctions’ last sale of 2011 earns $300K with strong global bidding

Large 19th-century Chinese jardinière featuring figural courtyard scene of Immortals brought in $9,680. 888 Auctions image.

Large 19th-century Chinese jardinière featuring figural courtyard scene of Immortals brought in $9,680. 888 Auctions image.

RICHMOND HILL, Canada – 888 Auctions concluded a very successful 2011 calendar year with a bang as its Nov. 24 Imperial Chinese Jades and Works of Art auction brought in $302,579. Bidders from more than 18 countries competed feverishly over the offering of 576 lots comprising Chinese ceramics, jade and shoushan stone carvings, and bronze-cast deities. LiveAuctioneers.com provided the Internet live bidding.

Although most of the focus was fixed on the important finely carved jades in the auction, bidders did not have to wait long to whet their appetite for Asian art with the group of fine paintings that started the evening. Lot 34, a signed Chinese watercolor-on-paper painting exceeded its estimate high and soared to $3,933.

From the wonderful collection of jade carvings, there were some very pleasant surprises. Coincidence or not, the number “8” had quite a role to play, as lot 179, a set of eight spinach green jade tablets marked with an incised reign mark of Qianlong, shattered its high estimate of $1,000 realizing $6,655. Lot 183, a set of eight Chinese spinach green square seals with the mark of Qianlong, brought in $3,327. Both lot 188, an important 18th-century Qing Dynasty imperial white jade seal and lot 189, four fine Chinese Hetian imperial jade pieces, found their sale value at $7,260.

Many bidders have come to expect amazing value for a stunning collection of ceramics from 888 Auctions and the November auction was no exception. Starting modestly at $1,000, it quickly became apparent that for lot 295, a bidder war was to ensue. With the fall of the hammer, the large 19th-century Chinese jardinière painted in deep cobalt blue hues brought in $9,680.

Prominently displayed in the showroom during previews, lot 444 generated a great deal of excitement at the intricate and detailed cast figure of Amitayus. The rare and important Chinese gilt bronze figure was won by a regular bidder online finding its sale value at $33,880.

With a sell-through rate of over 60 percent, connoisseurs of Chinese art have realized they do not need to pay an arm and a leg for a Chinese artwork or antique at 888 Auctions.

888 Auctions is proud to announce its first auction of 2012, which will take place on Thursday, January 12. For consignment inquiries or additional information, please contact 888 Auctions at 905-763-7201 or by e-mail info@888auctions.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog from 888 Auctions’ Nov. 24 sale, complete with prices realized, at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Large 19th-century Chinese jardinière featuring figural courtyard scene of Immortals brought in $9,680. 888 Auctions image.

Large 19th-century Chinese jardinière featuring figural courtyard scene of Immortals brought in $9,680. 888 Auctions image.

A signed Chinese watercolor on paper painting featuring a cicada and praying mantis nearly doubled its high estimate, soaring to $3,933. 888 Auctions image.

A signed Chinese watercolor on paper painting featuring a cicada and praying mantis nearly doubled its high estimate, soaring to $3,933. 888 Auctions image.

Eight Chinese spinach green jade tablets with Qianlong Mark achieved $6,655. 888 Auctions image.

Eight Chinese spinach green jade tablets with Qianlong Mark achieved $6,655. 888 Auctions image.

Set of eight Chinese spinach green square seals with Qianlong Mark brought in $3,327. 888 Auctions image.

Set of eight Chinese spinach green square seals with Qianlong Mark brought in $3,327. 888 Auctions image.

Important 18th-century Qing Dynasty imperial white jade seal realized $7,260. 888 Auctions image.

Important 18th-century Qing Dynasty imperial white jade seal realized $7,260. 888 Auctions image.

Four finely carved Chinese Hetian imperial jade pieces found its sale value of $7,260. 888 Auctions image.

Four finely carved Chinese Hetian imperial jade pieces found its sale value of $7,260. 888 Auctions image.

A rare and important Chinese gilt bronze figure of Amitayus realized a hammer price of $33,880. 888 Auctions image.

A rare and important Chinese gilt bronze figure of Amitayus realized a hammer price of $33,880. 888 Auctions image.

The Eiffel Tower, as seen from the Champ de Mars, was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Authorities deny Eiffel Tower will be covered in foliage

The Eiffel Tower, as seen from the Champ de Mars, was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Eiffel Tower, as seen from the Champ de Mars, was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

PARIS (AFP) – French authorities were on Wednesday forced to deny that the Eiffel Tower could be transformed into the world’s largest tree by covering the iconic structure’s 327-meter height entirely with plants.

The denial came after France’s Le Figaro newspaper reported that engineering group Ginger had spent two years working on the 72-million-euro ($96-million) project that would see 600,000 plants hung on the tower.

The company that runs the Eiffel Tower, Sete, put out a statement saying that “there is no project of this nature in preparation” in response to Le Figaro’s headline: “Crazy plan to ‘plantify’ the Eiffel Tower.”

The city also put out a statement denying “the existence of any kind of project to ‘plantify’ the Eiffel Tower.”

Le Figaro said that architects and engineers had already built a prototype several meters tall to assess the effect of the additional 378 tons weight on the structure.

Seedlings would then be cultivated until June next year, which would be placed on the structure until January 2013, the paper said. The plants would grow until January 2014 and be left there until their removal in July 2016.

The plants would be placed in bags of soil hanging from hemp ropes attached to the tower’s steel structure. Twelve tons of rubber piping would irrigate the vegetation.

Jean-Bernard Bros, a city councilor whose job title is president of the Eiffel Tower, said: “You can’t stop people having ideas.”

“Nothing has been finalized, nothing has been studied. I had knowledge of this project along with many others, people suggest new ideas for the Eiffel Tower to me every day,” he said.


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


The Eiffel Tower, as seen from the Champ de Mars, was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Eiffel Tower, as seen from the Champ de Mars, was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Spanish gold relics from the Dry Tortugas deep-water recovery, to be offered Dec. 11 by New Orleans Auction Galleries as part of their Dec. 8-11 auction series. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries.

New Orleans Auction to offer gold relics from shipwreck, Dec. 11

Spanish gold relics from the Dry Tortugas deep-water recovery, to be offered Dec. 11 by New Orleans Auction Galleries as part of their Dec. 8-11 auction series. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries.

Spanish gold relics from the Dry Tortugas deep-water recovery, to be offered Dec. 11 by New Orleans Auction Galleries as part of their Dec. 8-11 auction series. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries.

NEW ORLEANS – On September 4, 1622, two Spanish fleets set sail from Havana harbor under the command of Marquis de Caderieita, their holds laden with the richesse of the New World. The first fleet (or “flota”), the Tierra Firma, had picked up treasures at Columbia, Panama and other ports in South America. The other, the New Spain flota, had collected its cargo along the coast of Mexico. The two convoys gathered in Cuba to make the return trip together, accompanied by heavily armed warships to protect the fleet against pirates and privateers. Bad weather and other problems delayed their planned July 1st departure until late in the season.

The 28 ships started on their usual route: through the Florida Straits, up the east coast of Florida to the latitude of Bermuda, then eastward home. Barely one day out, however, on September 6th in the Straits of Florida, disaster struck in the form of a massive hurricane. The ferocious storm scattered the fleet, capsizing some ships, slamming others into the Keys. Three galleons, five merchant naos and one patache were lost on the Keys, with two (or three) others lost in deeper waters.

When news of the disaster reached Spain, authorities sent another five ships to Florida in attempt to salvage two of the galleons, the Atocha and the Santa Margarita. Over a period of about 10 years, Spain was able to recover about half the treasure of the Santa Margarita, which was in shallow enough water to allow some salvage by breath-holding divers. Recovery from the Atocha, which had sunk in 55 feet, proved more difficult, and the rest – those private vessels lost in the deep waters of the Keys -were considered lost forever.

In the late 1960s, shrimpers working around the Dry Tortugas brought up in their nets a large ceramic amphora, later identified as a colonial-era Spanish olive jar. The location of the site was noted, but once again the cost of recovery at such a depth – 1300 feet – made futher exploration impractical. Not soon after, treasure hunter Mel Fisher (1922-1998) began his 16-year search for the Atocha, which he discovered on July 20, 1985 on the coral reefs 35 miles from Key West. The salvage produced a staggering amount of treasure: 40 tons of gold and silver bars, over 100,000 gold coins and precious Muzo emeralds. The discovery prompted a surge of interest in shipwreck salvage and advancements in the technology of deep-water recovery.

The olive jar dredged up in the ’60s was remembered, and on June 6, 1989, about 50 miles southwest of the Atocha site, an 83-foot, 190-ton deep-sea diving research vessel, the R.V. Seahawk (a one-time shrimp boat seized by the Coast Guard and sold in 1987 for $50,000 to ad and P.R. man Greg Stemm), used its video- and sonar-equipped unmanned Phantom DHD2 remotely-operated recovery vehicle to retrieve a 4.1 kilogram bronze bell from the ocean floor. It was labeled artifact number 89-1A-00001 and enabled Stemm and his partner John C. Morris to establish an admiralty claim for the site and allow their company, Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology Inc. (which went public in 1991), to begin salvaging the wreck, now called the ‘Dry Tortugas.’

Over the next two years, the Seahawk, equipped with a much more sophisticated remote vehicle, the Merlin, would recover over 17,000 artifacts from the Dry Tortugas site, including gold, silver, medallions, olive jars, astrolabes, gemstones and personal effects of the crew. Every artifact recovered was meticulously mapped and catalogued, with equal attention given to both the grandest treasure and the lowliest trinket. Recent research indicates that the wreck, a small 82-foot caravel, is that of the Nuestra Senora de la Consolacion, which the five survivors of the Atocha – three sailors and two slaves – saw suddenly “capsize and vanish into the angry ocean.”

Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology Inc. sold the bulk of the collection for $2.4 million in 1998 to Treasure and Exhibits International, formerly Vanderbilt Square, which had earlier purchased Michael’s International Treasure Jewelry, Inc., a Key West museum/store where the treasure was being exhibited. T.E.I. soon ran into finiancial difficulty, however, and was forced to sell the collection, some of which was offered at an auction held on June 5-6, 1999 by Jay Sugarman Auctioneers in Miami, Florida. Many items were purchased by original Seahawk investors, but the sale allowed some of the artifacts to enter private collections.

It is from one such collection that New Orleans Auction Galleries will be offering items from the Dry Tortugas site, in their Dec. 11 sale. Included are four high-karat gold bars totaling over five troy pounds and a rare, uncompromised six-strand 21K gold money chain. Also offered is a large, intact olive jar, not unlike the one dredged up in the 1960s that began the hunt for the Nuestra Senora de la Consolacion. Each of these amazing treasures, remarkably preserved by the ocean depths for nearly four centuries, represents a unique piece of history of the New World and the Gulf South, and a tangible and direct link to the ancient ghosts of conquest.

Internet live bidding for New Orleans Auction Galleries’ Dec. 8-11 sale will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com. To view the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet, visit www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Spanish gold relics from the Dry Tortugas deep-water recovery, to be offered Dec. 11 by New Orleans Auction Galleries as part of their Dec. 8-11 auction series. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries.

Spanish gold relics from the Dry Tortugas deep-water recovery, to be offered Dec. 11 by New Orleans Auction Galleries as part of their Dec. 8-11 auction series. Image courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries.

The setting sun illuminates the copper façade on the Natural History Museum of Utah’s new building, the Rio Tinto Center. The copper, mined at Kennecott Utah Copper, is offset in sections to represent Utah’s geologic formations. Image courtesy of NHMU/Stuart Ruckman.

New Utah museum leaps beyond old-school dioramas

 The setting sun illuminates the copper façade on the Natural History Museum of Utah’s new building, the Rio Tinto Center. The copper, mined at Kennecott Utah Copper, is offset in sections to represent Utah’s geologic formations. Image courtesy of NHMU/Stuart Ruckman.

The setting sun illuminates the copper façade on the Natural History Museum of Utah’s new building, the Rio Tinto Center. The copper, mined at Kennecott Utah Copper, is offset in sections to represent Utah’s geologic formations. Image courtesy of NHMU/Stuart Ruckman.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Museum-goers are taking in the sounds, smell and feel of ancient life and landscapes at a new $100 million building in Salt Lake City.

The Natural History Museum of Utah engages the senses, allowing visitors to mingle inside exhibits, touch artifacts, get a whiff of desert plants or rotting flesh and hear the soft warbling of birds.

People are even walking on top of exhibits, with glass-panel floors covering fossil dig sites. Over the years, they’ll also be able to watch paleontologists separate fossils from rock in a glass-walled working laboratory.

The museum, which opened Nov. 18, is located in the Rio Tinto Center on the University of Utah campus. The center’s copper and stone exterior is designed to blend into the high foothills of the Wasatch Range, and it’s named for the mining company that donated the copper—100,000 pounds of it—for the outside panels. The center was also designed to meet specifications for top ratings from the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building systems, with features like a planted roof and parking tiers that percolate rainwater. Rooftop solar panels will satisfy a quarter of the building’s energy demands.

The best way to browse the 50,000 square feet of exhibit space is to spiral down from the top floor and backward in time, curators say. From the fifth level, which was turned over to Utah’s five major Indian tribes, ramps descend into an 80-foot-deep lobby called The Canyon.

There are plenty of objects to touch, including a wall of human skulls—cast from the real thing—that demonstrate the passage of evolution. Other fossil casts with “Please Touch!” signs include a giant alligator in the main showroom that “ate dinosaurs for lunch,” said Randy Irmis, the museum’s curator of paleontology.

For children, the place is irresistible. They can get inside dig sites and turn over artifacts, turn on faucets to carve rivers in a table of sand, or aim fans to control the shape of sand dunes. They can also spend time exploring and experimenting in supervised science labs.

Visitors have used words like “breathtaking,” “cool” and “amazing” to describe their reactions.

Chief architect Ralph Appelbaum hoped it would turn out that way. “There’s very little barrier between you and what’s mounted,” he said. “These galleries are really designed to be interactive.”

This is a working museum as well, with a wing for scientific research and a climate-controlled repository for millions of natural objects and human artifacts.

“Isn’t it cool? We’re shell-shocked,” said Duncan Metcalf, curator of archaeology, who gets a thrill walking into the building every morning. “It’s an architectural marvel.”

The museum has only a few choice window views, in order to keep daylight from aging sensitive artifacts and bones on display, but those views are strategic.

One overlooks the Great Salt Lake at an exhibit showing the basin filling and emptying over time with climate change. Another view frames the spine of the 11,000-foot Wasatch mountains.

The museum was built with a combination of public and private funding. The state of Utah gave $25 million and the federal government $16.5 million. Salt Lake County taxpayers borrowed $15 million, and donors put up more than $44 million. That includes the donation of copper that Rio Tinto dug up at the Kennecott mine across the Salt Lake valley.

Pete Ashdown, a Utah Internet businessman who donated over $50,000 to the museum, spent much of his youth at the university’s former museum—a creaky, dusty old building with old-school lifeless exhibits where his mother helped run educational programs as a volunteer. He said he “jumped at the opportunity” to support the new digs.

“I’ve been to the Smithsonian and New York’s natural history museum, and this is unique. Our museum is in the setting,” said Ashdown. “What you see was drawn out of Utah itself.”

___

If You Go…

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF UTAH: 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, Utah; http://nhmu.utah.edu/ or 801-581-4303. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Wednesdays until 9 p.m. (last admission at 8 p.m.). Adults, $9; ages 65 and over, $7; children 3-12, $6.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-11-28-11 2303GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


 The setting sun illuminates the copper façade on the Natural History Museum of Utah’s new building, the Rio Tinto Center. The copper, mined at Kennecott Utah Copper, is offset in sections to represent Utah’s geologic formations. Image courtesy of NHMU/Stuart Ruckman.

The setting sun illuminates the copper façade on the Natural History Museum of Utah’s new building, the Rio Tinto Center. The copper, mined at Kennecott Utah Copper, is offset in sections to represent Utah’s geologic formations. Image courtesy of NHMU/Stuart Ruckman.

A 19th century artist's interpretation of what Maj. Robert Rogers, leader of Robers' Rangers, looked like. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Archaeologists believe skeletons are from Colonial cemetery

A 19th century artist's interpretation of what Maj. Robert Rogers, leader of Robers' Rangers, looked like. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

A 19th century artist’s interpretation of what Maj. Robert Rogers, leader of Robers’ Rangers, looked like. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – They ranged in age from 20 to 45, stood between just over 5 feet 3 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, and most of them were male and intact, except for the one missing its skull.

Five years after human skeletons were uncovered on a historic island in the upper Hudson River by a husband-and-wife team of amateur archaeologists, New York state officials are revealing what professional archaeologists learned from the remains.

Evidence found in seven unmarked graves unearthed on Rogers Island in 2006 suggests the site was a military cemetery during the French and Indian War, according to archaeologists at the New York State Museum, which was contracted by the property’s owner to examine the remains. The state Department of Education, which operates the museum, recently released the archaeologists’ findings to The Associated Press.

Christina Rieth, the state’s chief archaeologist, believes the site in the village of Fort Edward likely contains a large cemetery dating back to the 1750s, when Britain established its largest fortification in North America on the east bank of the upper Hudson, 45 miles north of Albany. Lisa Anderson, one of the state archaeologists who examined the remains, agreed.

“There’s clear evidence of additional burials nearby,” she told the AP.

That view supports the belief of JoAnne and Richard Fuller, the Fort Edward couple who discovered the graves on the property of Long Island businessman Frank Nastasi, a history buff who had hired the Fullers to take care of his 34-acre wooded parcel, once part of a frontier outpost that was home to thousands of redcoats and American provincial troops, and the base of operations for the famed Rogers’ Rangers.

While searching the property for remnants of a colonial-era barracks, the Fullers found human bones on the ground. In the spring of 2006, they discovered seven graves containing human skeletons. With Nastasi’s approval, they used ground-penetrating radar to search for other graves and identified what they believe are about 250 other burial plots spaced 4 feet apart and arrayed in rows. JoAnne Fuller believes many of the undisturbed graves contain more than one body, a common burial practice on the 18th-century frontier.

The Fullers’ discovery was the first evidence of mass human burials on the island, despite extensive amateur and professional archaeological excavations conducted in recent decades.

“There was never a map showing that burial ground,” Richard Fuller told the AP recently.

After the Fullers uncovered the graves, archaeologists from the State Museum in Albany spent several weeks at the site in 2006, taking measurements of the skeletons and looking for artifacts. The scope of their work was limited by the stipulations of Nastasi’s contract, which didn’t allow additional grave excavations or the removal of the uncovered remains. The agreement also prohibited the state from releasing the archaeologists’ findings, according to Education Department officials.

The agency released the information earlier this month under a Freedom of Information Law request from the AP.

Several buttons found in two of the graves resemble Colonial-era uniform buttons unearthed on other parts of the island during earlier digs, leading the state archaeologists to believe the graves date back to the French and Indian War (1755-63).

Their examination of the seven skeletons revealed that the average age at death was 33 and the average height just under 5-feet-7. Five were male, while the gender of two others couldn’t be positively determined. Fragments of an eighth skeleton were also examined.

None of the skeletons showed obvious causes of death, disease or trauma, although one set of remains was missing its skull. Rogers Island was home to a British army smallpox hospital during the war, but some potentially fatal diseases such as smallpox don’t leave traces on human bones, Anderson said.

The archaeologists still don’t know the identity of the skeletons the Fullers uncovered. They could be some of the hundreds of soldiers known to have died at Fort Edward between 1755-59, when some 15,000 troops occupied a sprawling complex that included barracks and huts on Rogers Island. Most of the deaths were caused by illness or disease, others from wounds suffered in skirmishes with French and Indian forces near the fort and farther north in the Adirondack wilderness.

The burials could include members of Rogers’ Rangers, frontiersmen who served as the British army’s main scouting force in the Lake George-Lake Champlain corridor. Led by Maj. Robert Rogers of New Hampshire, the Rangers were skilled in the hit-and-run tactics favored by their Indian foes. In 1757, Rogers wrote his “Rules of Ranging” while at Rogers Island.

His list of wilderness combat do’s and don’ts has been used for decades as a small unit catechism for U.S. commando training, including the Army Rangers.

Upon Nastasi’s death in 2007, ownership of the Rogers Island property passed to his son, Anthony, a Long Island contractor. The younger Nastasi has said he plans to honor his father’s wishes that the property become a public park. After the state backed off from buying the site because of budget problems, the village and town entered the picture. Local officials have applied for a state grant that would enable the village and town to purchase the land, with the intention of turning it into a tourist attraction.

“We always suspected there were graves there,” said Neal Orsini, a town board member in Fort Edward, long known for yielding 18th-century military artifacts. “You never know what you’ll find. Everywhere you stick a shovel, something comes up.”

After the state archaeologists finished their work in 2006, the skeletons were reburied where they lay. There are no immediate plans to search for more graves at the site, state and local officials said. Anthony Nastasi said he wouldn’t object to more extensive excavations at the cemetery site.

“I’d love to see what’s there,” he told the AP.

If the local governments succeed in obtaining the Nastasi property, officials will have to decide how best to preserve the site, another archaeologist said.

“It potentially could be one of the most significant cemeteries of the period,” said David Starbuck, a New Hampshire college professor who has led several archaeological digs on Rogers Island and in Fort Edward.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-11-29-11 1441GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


A 19th century artist's interpretation of what Maj. Robert Rogers, leader of Robers' Rangers, looked like. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

A 19th century artist’s interpretation of what Maj. Robert Rogers, leader of Robers’ Rangers, looked like. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Huguette Clark (right) circa 1917 in Butte, Mont., with her sister Andrée (left) and her father William A. Clark. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Family of late copper heiress and arts patron produces second will

Huguette Clark (right) circa 1917 in Butte, Mont., with her sister Andrée (left) and her father William A. Clark. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Huguette Clark (right) circa 1917 in Butte, Mont., with her sister Andrée (left) and her father William A. Clark. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

NEW YORK (AP) – A newly publicized will by an heiress to a Montana copper mining fortune leaves most of her $400 million estate to her family, while a will signed just weeks later left nothing to relatives.

The childless Huguette Clark died in May at age 104—a last breath of New York’s Gilded Age that produced the Rockefellers, Astors and Vanderbilts.

Her relatives brought the new will to light on Monday: They filed court papers asking a Surrogate’s Court judge to involve them in proceedings about how her money was spent—and by whom—while she was alive.

Clark’s relatives accuse her co-executors, attorney Wallace Bock and accountant Irving Kamsler, of plundering her fortune. The two were among the few who for years had access to the reclusive Clark in her Manhattan hospital room. Clark had left her 42-room Manhattan home—the largest residence on Fifth Avenue—decades earlier, choosing to live undisturbed at the hospital.

A court-ordered accounting of the Paris-born heiress’ finances as overseen by Bock and Kamsler in the last 15 years of her life is “a chilling report of the mishandling, misappropriation and mismanagement” of her assets, the relatives’ lawyer, John R. Morken, wrote in papers filed Monday.

While Clark was confined to a hospital room, her spending amounted to about $1 million each month, Morken said, citing the figures.

Monday’s filing, which was first reported by msnbc.com, included a will signed in March 2005, about six weeks before another will that Bock and Kamsler filed shortly after Clark’s death.

The March 2005 will benefits 21 relatives on the side of Clark’s father, U.S. Sen. William A. Clark, who represented Montana after building one of America’s largest fortunes mining copper, building railroads and founding Las Vegas. Nevada’s Clark County is named for him. His wealth vied with that of the Rockefellers.

A will signed in April 2005, by contrast, gives Clark’s family nothing and leaves her money mainly to charity and her nurse.

Morken writes that beyond any financial interest, the relatives are concerned about their heritage—and “that a very significant member of their family should have fallen victim, it appears, to the greed of persons who had put themselves in a position of trust with their great-aunt.”

No criminal charges have been filed against Bock or Kamsler, and both have denied any wrongdoing in their dealings with Clark. Bock “always acted consistent with her wishes and carried them out to the letter,” his lawyer, Robert J. Anello, said Monday.

Kamsler, his lawyer and an attorney for the Clark estate didn’t immediately return phone calls Monday.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been looking into how Clark’s affairs were managed in the past two decades, people familiar with the probe have said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office did not immediately respond Monday to an inquiry about Clark.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office also is keeping an eye on the Clark estate as part of its oversight role over estates and the execution of them.

It’s not the first time the handling of Clark’s finances has come into question.

The April 2005 will showed she was leaving $34 million to her longtime private nurse and about $300 million to the arts. The fortune includes a prized Claude Monet water-lily painting not seen by the public since 1925; she gave it to Washington’s Corcoran Gallery of Art.

In that will, Clark left instructions for the creation of a foundation “for the primary purpose of fostering and promoting the arts”—based at her 24-acre oceanfront estate in Santa Barbara, Calif., which would be converted into a museum. Bock and Kamsler would oversee the foundation; they also were left $500,000 apiece.

The Santa Barbara estate was where Clark spent her youth, but she had not been back since 1963, when her mother died.

Clark was married briefly in her 20s to a bank clerk studying law. They parted ways after only nine months.

After her mother’s death, her once lively life amid New York’s cultured world—with forays to Europe—became more solitary, and she rarely ventured from her Fifth Avenue home.

About six months before Clark’s death, three of her relatives asked a Manhattan judge to appoint a guardian for her. Citing news reports and other information, they accused Bock and Kamsler of exercising “improper influence” over her and limiting family members’ contact with her. But the state Supreme Court justice rebuffed the request, saying the relatives relied on hearsay and “speculative assertions” that she was incapacitated.

Clark died on May 24, more than a century after she was born in Paris to the 67-year-old U.S. senator and a 28-year-old Michigan woman.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-11-29-11 0355GMT


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Huguette Clark (right) circa 1917 in Butte, Mont., with her sister Andrée (left) and her father William A. Clark. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Huguette Clark (right) circa 1917 in Butte, Mont., with her sister Andrée (left) and her father William A. Clark. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.