August 15, 2012 - Auction Central News

Mich. shipwreck group seeks information about schooner

An example of a schooner built in 1891 is 'The Alma,' which hauled goods on and around San Francisco Bay. Still seaworthy, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1988. It is now one of the exhibits of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (AP) – What happened to the two-masted schooner that caused it to sink off the shores of South Haven more than 100 years ago? Which vessel might it be, of the many that sunk during those dangerous times?

Ken Fagerman, vice president of the Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve, said those are among the questions his group hopes to answer over the coming months as it examines artifacts and remains of the 80-by-20-foot wooden ship found covered in the sands at the bottom of Lake Michigan about 5 miles out from South Haven in the protected waters of the preserve.

In 2011, the Michigan Underwater Divers club announced that an 1800s shipwreck had been located; the preserve has completed an initial inventory and surveyed the wreck site, Fagerman said.

Right now the investigation is focusing on two possibilities — a vessel that went down in 1863 with seven crewmen lost, or another, earlier, wreck in which all on board were lost, he said.

The Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve has partnered with the South Haven Maritime Museum in the effort to identify and preserve the wreck, he said.

“Preservation is part of our ethic,” Fagerman said.

It’s also the law.

The Abandoned Shipwreck Act — and the state’s Aboriginal Records and Antiquities law — make abandoned shipwrecks and artifacts the property of the state of Michigan and provide criminal penalties for the removal of artifacts. Looters could lose their boats and equipment, Fagerman said.

But at a depth of 70 feet the wreck is unlikely to attract casual visitors.

Fagerman said if funding can be found the ship could be unburied so more of its remains are visible, similar to the long and costly effort that turned the Rockaway into a popular dive destination, he said. That 106-foot-long schooner was lost in a storm off South Haven on Nov. 19, 1891 while sailing from Ludington to Benton Harbor.

The group supports this conservation effort and the development and exploration of newly discovered shipwrecks and will act as a conservator of this site, he added.

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Spencer Museum of Art reopens after flooding

Fortunately, the art collection was spared during the flood that occurred at the Spencer Museum of Art. Among the museum's holdings is the circa-1790 Joseph Ducreux (French, 1735-1802) painting 'Le Discret.'

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – The Spencer Museum of Art on the University of Kansas campus will reopen after repairing damage from a water main break.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that the museum was scheduled to reopen Tuesday.

The museum closed Aug. 1 after the water main break sent water into the building’s lower floors, which house the Murphy Art and Architecture Library. The museum’s artworks, which are displayed on the upper floors, were not damaged.

Officials have said an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 of the museum’s 170,000 volumes were damaged.

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Information from: Lawrence Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com

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Array of London Olympic memorabilia up for auction

Fair use of copyrighted logo of the 2012 Summer Olympics. Unique trademark with no other fair-use equivalent available. Used to illustrate an article directly related to, and sanctioned by, the International Olympic Committee for 2012 Summer Olympics.

LONDON (AP) – The London Olympics may be over, but it’s not too late to take home a national flag from the athletes’ parade or a used javelin.

Officials have put almost 2,000 Olympic relics up for auction, along with a replica of the Isle of Wonder book that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling read from during the July 27 opening ceremony.

The book’s price had risen to 1,066 pounds (US$1,670) Tuesday, after opening at 1 pound a few days ago.

Among the stranger auction items also from the opening ceremony, directed by filmmaker Danny Boyle, are a farmer’s hand-sickle, a Mary Poppins hat with electric lights, a suffragette protest banner, and a maypole.

Historic Olympic memorabilia is also offered, though they don’t come cheap: A 1948 London Olympic torch forged from aluminum is going for 14,000 pounds (US$21,970) on Tuesday — and it appears to be starting price.

The sale of the items will go toward covering the cost of staging the games, as well as subsidizing additional costs incurred by selling Olympic torches to thousands of bearers at a discounted rate. Officials say the torches cost 500 pounds to manufacture, but the 8,000 bearers who took turns carrying the torch in a 70-day relay ahead of the games could buy them for 200 pounds as a memento.

Equipment from the competitions is also offered and includes a javelin that’s currently bid to just over 2,000 pounds.

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Online: Official online auction takes place at http://memorabilia.london2012.com/

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Oct. 7 conference in NYC to focus on history of jewelry

Tip of the Iceberg ring designed by Niki Kavakonis

NEW YORK – The Association for the Study of Jewelry & Related Arts’ seventh annual fall conference will take place Sunday, Oct/ 7, 2012 in New York City at a private club in midtown Manhattan. The event will consist of an all-day conference and an optional study day on Monday, Oct. 8.

Speakers for Jewelry of the Americas: ASJRA’s seventh conference are:

Jennifer Santos, Maryland Historical Society, who will speak on ‘Betsy Bonaparte and Her Jewelry: An American Tale’

Yvonne Markowitz, Curator of Jewelry, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who will speak on ‘The Extraordinary Collaboration between Trabert & Hoeffer and Mauboussin, Paris’

Janet Zapata, noted jewelry historian, who will speak on ‘The Legacy of Herman Marcus and Marcus & Co.’

Artist/jewelry artist Mona Brody and founder/executive editor of ‘Adornment’ magazine Elyse Karlin, who will jointly lecture on ‘The Art and Jewelry of Frida Kahlo’

Additionally:

Canadian jewelry artist Niki Kavakonis will speak on ‘Art, Architecture, Science: From Uncut Diamond Crystals to Carbon Capture Crystals.’ Niki’s ring featuring a rough Canadian diamond traveled with the ‘Nature of Diamonds’ exhibition.

Noted author and historian Lois Sherr Dubin will speak on ‘Opal Bears and Lapis Skies: The Work of Navaho/Hopi Jeweler Jessie Monongya.’

Laura Johnson, Assistant Curator, Historic New England, will speak on ‘Making Present the Past: Jewelry in the Collection of Historic New England.’

Jack Ogden, ancient jewelry specialist and CEO of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, will give a preview of the Cheapside Hoard, an exhibition to open in 2013 in London.

Charon Kransen will be offering art books at the conference. An artist himself, he represents many studio jewelry artists and is the most specialized resource for books and exhibition catalogs featuring jewelry (historical, ethnic, technical and contemporary), metal and design from around the world.

The study day on October 8 will consist of:

A visit to goldsmith and ASJRA member Donna Distefano’s atelier/studio, where she will demonstrate how to alloy gold.

A visit to CJS Sales Vintage Warehouse. Owner Carl Schimmel will tell attendees about his years in the costume jewelry business and allow them to peruse the warehouse’s entire inventory of vintage closeout bead, craft and jewelry part supplies. The goods include rhinestones, pressed glass cabochons and stones, findings, filigree, wood, plastic beads/parts, Bakelite chips, chain, nailheads, lucite, Swarovski crystals, cameos, seed beads, Venetian one-hole beads/cabs, chandelier parts, etc. They specialize in liquidating vintage items/components and also have some finished vintage costume jewelry/accessories from the 1960s through early 1990s.

Lunch at a restaurant to be announced.

An Art Deco-focused tour of Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building led by award-winning New York historian/tour guide Justin Ferate.

High tea at an elegant Manhattan location.

The cost of the conference day is $250 and includes morning coffee and Continental breakfast. The conference is limited to 150 people. The cost of the study day is $350 and will be limited to only 30 people.

Further details and registration forms can be found at www.jewelryconference.com. E-mail ekarlin@usa.net.

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Longest-running UK comic ‘The Dandy’ may end

The celebrate Britain's rich comic book heritage, the Royal Mail produced a series of stamps featuring classic titles that included 'The Dandy.' Fair use of copyrighted image sourced from Wikipedia Foundation and used to illustrate the importance and iconic status of 'The Dandy' in the United Kingdom. 'The Dandy' is published by D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s longest-running comic book is facing closure after 75 years in print.

The publisher of “The Dandy” said Tuesday it is reviewing all of its magazine titles to meet the “challenges of the rapidly changing publishing industry.”

Circulation of the weekly comic book, first published in 1937 and best-known for cartoon cowboy Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat, dropped to less than 7,500 in the second half of last year. At its peak in 1950 it sold some 2 million copies.

Scotland-based DC Thomson stressed it has yet to decide on the future of “The Dandy,” but will ensure all of its characters live on in other platforms — hinting that their adventures may soon be available only online.

“There are many challenges within the industry at present, but we’re excited that the digital revolution has also given us an opportunity to innovate and develop,” the publisher said in a statement.

“The Dandy” chronicles the adventures of Desperate Dan, a strong, big-hearted cowboy with a weakness for “cow pies,” or enormous meat pies with horns sticking out of them.

When “The Dandy” first went on sale, it cost 2 pence, and it became so successful its publisher launched a similar comic strip, “The Beano,” within months.

Anita O’Brien, curator of London’s Cartoon Museum, said at its launch “The Dandy” offered its young readers something new: more action and more visual material than contemporary magazines.

“A lot of the publications in Britain would have been what you’d call boy’s story papers — mostly text with a few illustrations,” she said. “It was new in having a lot of funny strips, it was very brash and slapstick in its comedy.”

But “The Dandy” fell behind the times and many news agents have not stocked it for years, O’Brien said. A re-launch of the publication as “Dandy Xtreme” in 2007 did not halt its decline.

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Online: “The Dandy” is at http://www.dandy.com/

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