October 29, 2012 - Auction Central News

Les Cohen Amphora pottery collection featured at Morphy’s, Nov. 2-3

Very rare Amphora Bat vase, 10 in., raised Amphora circular mark with remnants of paper Amphora label present. Illustrated in 'Monsters and Maidens' Collector's Edition, Byron Vreeland, 2011, page 352. Mint condition. Est. $8,000-$14,000. Morphy Auctions image.

DENVER, Pa. – A spectacular collection of Amphora pottery that includes a number of very rare designs will headline Morphy Auctions’ Nov. 2-3 sale. The Les Cohen collection is one of several fresh collections featured in the 1,125-lot Fine & Decorative Art Auction, which will be available for bids live online through LiveAuctioneers.com.

The Friday session includes more than 150 outstanding pieces of Amphora from the Les Cohen collection, many of which are the actual examples shown in leading reference books.

An extraordinary Amphora Bat vase, 10 inches tall, is dominated by a winged bat in flying mode, with its tail rounding the circumference of the vessel. It has a raised Amphora circular mark with remnants of a paper Amphora label still present. This very rare design is illustrated in “Monsters and Maidens,” Collector’s Edition, by Byron Vreeland, 2011, page 352. In mint condition, it is expected to make $8,000-$14,000.

Continuing in a nature theme, an Amphora Owl vase with four heads stands 16½ inches tall and is encrusted with translucent jewels. Its underside is impressed with an Amphora oval, crown, and Austria oval, as well an impressed number “8110.” It is estimated at $10,000-$15,000.

At 29 inches, a monumental Alfred Stellmacher-designed Amphora vase features a dragon motif, with the wonderfully detailed three-dimensional applied dragon boasting enamel decoration in a studded pattern. Marked with the Stellmacher medallion on the underside, the near-mint vase could realize $10,000-$15,000 at auction.

Another top entry is the Amphora berry bud vase with botanical and flying bat theme. It stands 21½ inches tall and has both an RSTK mark and impressed Amphora oval mark under the base. Estimate: $10,000-$16,000.

A superb three-dimensional artwork, a 20½ inch Amphora Nymph with Berries vase is similar to an example pictured on the cover of “The House of Amphora” by Richard L Scott. With impressed marks on underside, it is cataloged with a $5,000-$7,000 estimate.

The Friday session also includes 200+ pieces of Rookwood, Weller and Roseville pottery; an art glass collection and a large array of Breininger pottery.

On Saturday, Morphy’s will present a huge variety of decorative art led by a carved Indian maiden attributed to Robb. There are also early firefighter items, such as parade hats and buckets; plus antique trade signs, including such figurals as a beehive and top hat. A stag-shape weather vane and 20 pieces of stoneware from a long-held collection also will be offered; and an important circa-1810 Pennsylvania tall-case clock by Lancaster County clocksmith Samuel Brenesian will be auctioned with a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.

A selection of violins includes instruments crafted by Glass, Thurnhart, Testore and Celano. There are also pocketwatches, jewelry, and historical documents signed by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. A World War II military lot included in the sale is a copy of “Mein Kampf” signed by Adolf Hitler.

The Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3, 2012 auction sessions will start at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. For additional information on any lot in the sale, call 717-335-3435 or e-mail serena@morphyauctions.com.

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

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

ADDITIONAL LOT OF NOTE

Cordier Auctions has all that glitters in Nov. 10-11 sale

Vintage 89-inch H.C. Evans jumbo dice wheel. Estimate $2,000-$3,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Cordier Auctions will hold their Fall Antique & Fine Art auction Nov. 10 and 11. Highlights of the sale include paintings by Paul Feiler (German/English, b. 1918) and John Clymer (American, 1907-1989), a Chinese Qing Dynasty dragon robe and a 1925 Ford Model T pickup truck as well as 100 lots of jewelry, 145 lots of Asian arts, furniture, rugs, collectibles and fine art. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The 872-lot auction will be held in the company’s new auction house located at 1500 Paxton St. in Harrisburg beginning at 11 a.m. EST.

Saturday’s sale is slated to offer books and paper, collectibles, toys, jewelry, silver, porcelain and glass. A collection of Pennsylvania governor’s signatures will be a highlight of books and paper. The collection includes documents signed by 61 governors from provincial to modern, all professionally framed in identical frames, and features such notables as William Markham, Thomas and John Penn, and Benjamin Franklin. The archive of a Purina salesman from Harrisburg also be offered. The archive includes promotional items and sales awards including a Victrola presented by Henry Ford.

Collectibles will offer a wide variety of items from Masonic collectibles and a traveling mortician’s kit to samplers and a German singing bird automaton. Of note will be an antique jumbo dice wheel by H.C. Evans of Chicago. Standing 89 inches high, the wheel includes its original shipping crate and is estimated at $2,000 to $3,000. Several banks will be offered in toys, including a Hall’s Liliput and a Stevens William Tell, as will pressed steel and cast-iron trucks including Structo, Hubley, Marx and Buddy L.

Two vehicles will be offered in Saturday’s session including a 1925 Ford Model T “C” cab pickup truck. The truck underwent a restoration/modification in 2003 and is estimated at $5,000 to $10,000. An Arrow Development amusement park ride car will also be offered. The car is styled after a Model T type touring sedan and was decommissioned from the Hersheypark Turnpike ride in 1974. It is estimated at $3,000 to $5,000.

Over 50 lots of silver will be offered including flatware sets, trays, French serving pieces and more by such companies as Stieff, Gorham and Towle. A highlight of this category will be a large 24-inch English sterling silver and carved wood nef. Hallmarked for Edwin Thomson Bryant of London circa 1891, the piece carries an estimate of $5,000 to $7,000.

Silver will be followed by over 100 lots of fine jewelry and watches. The star of jewelry is set to a figural diamond pin in the form of a sword. Featuring 4.74 total carats of clear, yellow and brown natural diamonds set in 18K gold and platinum, the pin is estimated at $3,000 to $6,000. Among gemstone jewelry will be an 11.9-carat ruby and diamond ring as well as a circa 1840 George IV gold cannetille necklace set with foiled topaz stones (both estimated at $1,000 to $2,000). Watches will feature a man’s 18K Omega Constellation wristwatch estimated at $2,000 to $4,000. Among Native American and Mexican jewelry will be six squash blossom necklaces.

Saturday’s session will conclude with porcelain and glass. Highlights among porcelain include a pair of signed Sevres covered urns (estimate: $1,000 to $2,000) and a Rosenthal fine silver overlay vase (estimate: $600 to $800). Numerous dinner services will be offered including Limoges, Mikasa, Lenox, Portmeirion, Haviland, Rosenthal, Royal Doulton and Spode. To complement the dinner sets will be crystal stemware including a 32-piece set of Lalique Phalsbourgh (estimate $1,000 to $2,000) and several lots of Hawkes Delft Diamond.

Sunday’s session will include furniture and rugs, Asian arts, clocks, lighting. In addition to antique furniture, contemporary fine furniture will be represented by such names as Henkel Harris, Henredon, Kindel, Stickley and Councill Craftsmen. Of note are two lots of Kindel Winterthur Reproduction furniture including a pair of low boys (estimate $1,000 to $2,000) and a bombe chest (estimate $1,500 to $3,000). Of note among modern furniture is a pair of Barcelona chairs (estimate $2,000 to $3,000) and a pair of James Mont slipper chairs (estimate $600 to $800). Over 30 lots of Persian rugs will be offered, from room size to scatter, including an antique Turkish Ushak room-size and a Persian Kashan room-size.

Over 140 lots of Asian arts including a Chinese Qing Dynasty blue dragon robe. Couched with metallic gold threads of dragons amid clouds and auspicious symbols with a lishui border and sea wave design on the bottom hem, the robe is estimated $4,000 to $6,000. Other lots of note include a 20-inch Chinese ivory carving of Quan Yin (estimate $1,000 to $2,000) and an 18th century Chinese bronze Shakyamuni Buddha (estimate $500 to $1,000). Asian arts will also feature porcelain, cinnabar, jade, cloisonné and champlevé.

Over 120 lots of fine art including paintings, bronzes, and prints. Cordier Auctions will be offering a newly discovered painting by artist Paul Feiler (German/English, B. 1918), a prominent member of the St. Ives School of art. Titled Cornish Landscape, the painting is set to be a star lot of the sale with an estimate of $10,000 to $20,000. Also to be offered will be a wildlife painting of deer entitled Early Morning by well-known artist John Clymer (American, 1907-1989) (estimate $10,000 to $15,000). Other artists of note include John Tupa, Kay WalkingStick, Joshua Neustein and Annie M. Snyder. Among prints will be lots by Erte, Audubon, Dali, Peter Max, John Lennon and Anthony Quinn.

Sunday’s auction will conclude with clocks and lighting. Clocks will offer four tall cases including a Hershede nine-tube, an Isaac Thomas (Chester County) and a Morbier. A highlight among mantel clocks is an Ansonia Music & Poetry (estimate $800 to $1,200). Lighting will offer six chandeliers including three Baccarat Zenith, one 48-light (estimate $25,000 to $50,000) and two 12-light. Also of note is a pair of single-arm Argand lamps (estimate $800 to $1,000).

Questions can be directed to Cordier Auctions & Appraisals at auctions@cordierantiques.com or by calling 717-731-8662.

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

Diamond sword pin, 4.74 total carats. Estimate: $3,000-$6,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

1925 Ford Model T pickup truck. Estimate $5,000-$10,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

Chinese dragon robe, Qing Dynasty. Estimate $4,000-$6,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

Hersheypark Turnpike amusement ride car. Estimate $3,000-$5,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

Tall case clock, Isaac Thomson, Chester County, Pa. Estimate $5,000-$10,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

John Clymer (American, 1907-1989) painting. Estimate $10,000-$15,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

Large 48-light Baccarat chandelier. Estimate $25,000-$50,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

Paul Feiler (German/English, b. 1918) painting. Estimate $10,000-$20,000. Cordier Auctions & Appraisals.

Tiffany masterpieces return to USA for Michaan’s Nov. 17 auction

Louis Comfort Tiffany (American 1848-1933) Family Group with Oxen Oil on board 22 ¾ inches x 35 1/8 inches c. 1888 unsigned Provenance: Artist's family, thence by descent; The Garden Museum Collection, Matsue, Japan

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Many of the finest known masterworks by Louis Comfort Tiffany will be offered at auction for the first time after many decades of revered stewardship in Asia. The Tiffany Studios selections, which come from the Garden Museum Collection in Matsue, Japan, are the proud legacy of museum founder and director Takeo Horiuchi. They will be offered my Michaan’s in a special Nov. 17, 2012 auction, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.

After the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, and with the knowledge that other substantial earthquakes were predicted for the region near Mount Fiji, Horiuchi felt he must take decisive action, a Michaan’s spokesperson said. His beloved Tiffany glass collection would almost certainly be destroyed if it were to stay on museum grounds. With this understanding, Horiuchi made the magnanimous decision to forego his passion and send the collection elsewhere for sake of safety. It was the ultimate sacrifice to make in the name of artspreservation.

Takeo Horiuchi began a search for a worthy successor to his museum collection. His search ended earlier this year when Michaan’s owner Allen Michaan and a small group of investors purchased the collection. The consortium will make a major portion of the collection available to the public for the first time ever at the Nov. 17 auction.

No expense was spared in compiling the Garden Museum Collection, which was regarded by many as a national treasure in Japan. A supreme example within the collection is a Tiffany Cobweb table lamp, one of only seven known. From its inception, the Cobweb table lamp was one of the most extravagant lamp productions to be crafted by Tiffany Studios. This costly work of art was originally created with the intention of targeting the firm’s wealthiest patrician clients and, to this day, remains one of the most desirable of all Tiffany designs.

There are many “jewels” in the auction, from an exceptional lava glass vase that was a part of Louis C. Tiffany’s personal collection until his death to a painting by Tiffany that remained in his family for multiple generations. Michaan’s believes the museum collection is the finest one ever assembled. Apportioned into approximately 175 lots, it includes not only lamps, but also windows, vases, paintings, enamels and mosaics.

For additional information on any items in the sale, contact Allen Michaan 510-227-2503. E-mail info@michaans.com.

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

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

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Tiffany Studios Hanging Cameo Glass Globe Estimate: $80,000 / 100,000

Tiffany Studios Aquamarine Vase Estimate: $100,000/120,000

Tiffany Studios Peony Table Lamp Estimate: $300,000/500,000

Pair of Tiffany Studios Wisteria Landscape Windows Estimate: $250,000 / 350,000

Tiffany Studios Exposition Silver Gilt Mounted Scent Bottle Estimate: $100,000 / 120,000

Tiffany Studios Cobweb Table Lamp Height: 30 1/3 inches. Diameter of shade: 19 inches Shade: unsigned. Base: impressed TIFFANY STUDIOS NEW YORK Estimate: Available upon request

Storm Notice: Cowan’s urges absentee bids for Oct. 31 auctions

Lot 132 in Cowan's Oct. 31 auction is a female bronze by Erté (French, 1892-1990). Hand patinated with chemicals and gold leaf, oval shaped granite base, stamped on the base © 1989 CHALK & VERMILION AND SEVENARTS / Erté's signature / 181/395; Ht. 21.5 in. Image courtesy of Cowan's.

CINCINNATI – Cowan’s Auctions is recommending absentee bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com as an alternative method for anyone who plans to bid in their Oct. 31 sales and who may be affected by Hurricane Sandy. The 218-lot of modern and contemporary ceramics aucton is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST (7 a.m. Pacific). The 207-lot auction of 20th-century art and design, and photographs is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. Pacific) on Wednesday.

“While we are physically located in Cincinnati, Ohio, we recognize that many of you may be affected by Hurricane Sandy. At this time we are still planning to conduct the auction,” Cowan’s wrote in an e-mail sent out today to those already registered for the sale. “The staff at Liveauctioneers has assured us that there will be no interruption of service in the electronic bidding platform. We recognize, however, that some of you may be without power, and therefore with access to the internet.” As an option, Cowan’s is recommending absentee bidding through LiveAuctioneers and assures one and all that their bids “will be executed competitively.”

Anyone with questions is asked to contact Cowan’s at 513-871-1670.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid at https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/33220_20th-century-art-design-and-photographs/page1

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Photo exhibit captures Mississippi farm life

Image courtesy of Cullis Wade Depot Gallery, Mississippi State University.

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – An exhibit of photographs focusing on agriculture in Mississippi is on display through November at Mississippi State University’s Cullis Wade Depot Gallery.

Most of the photos are the work of university photographers Scott Corey and Kat Lawrence.

The exhibit, titled “Images of Mississippi,” was drawn from thousands of photos Corey and Lawrence have taken in support of the university’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.

The display also includes winning entries from the 2010 4-H State Photography Competition.

It will be on exhibit until Nov. 30 and admission is free. The depot is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and for three hours before kickoff on home football game days.

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Gun found inside book donated to Indiana library

Example of an 1848 Colt .31-caliber pocket pistol. Photo by Hmaag, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) – An employee at a northwest Indiana library found a gun inside a hollowed-out book donated to the branch.

The Times of Munster reported Saturday that police in Valparaiso are holding the gun as evidence.

Assistant Library Director Phyllis Nelson says an employee at the Valparaiso branch of the Porter County Public Library discovered the antique-looking firearm when she opened the book earlier this week.

Police describe the weapon as a gold, wooden handled, 31-caliber, single shot, black powder gun.

Nelson says librarians have no way of knowing who donated the book. She says thousands of books are donated each month and no records are kept.

Police have determined the gun was not stolen.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.thetimesonline.com

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Notice of early closure: Skinner Inc. galleries

BOSTON – Skinner Inc. advises its galleries in Boston and Marlborough, Mass., will close at 1:00 p.m. today, October 29, 2012, due to Hurricane Sandy.

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Huge Gettysburg Battlefield map moved to new home

The Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 1863, hand-colored lithograph by Currier and Ives. US Library of Congress image.

HANOVER, Pa. (AP) – The 12-ton light-up map of the decisive moments of the Battle of Gettysburg has been hoisted to its new home about 12 miles away.

A central Pennsylvania businessman hopes the map will be the centerpiece of a new conference center he’s building in Hanover.

The Hanover Evening Sun reports the last of the four huge pieces of the 30-by-30-foot plaster and steel map were hoisted into the second floor of a former bank building.

Scott Roland purchased the map at auction last month for $14,000. That saved the longtime fixture at the Gettysburg National Military Park from the scrap heap.

The map shows how Union and Confederate troops moved during the three-day battle in July 1863.

The map went on display for the battle’s centennial but park officials pulled the plug on it when they opened a new visitor’s center in 2008.

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Information from: The Evening Sun, http://www.eveningsun.com

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Frederick Rhead tile panel sells for $637,500 at Rago auction

The University City four-part tile panel by Frederick H. Rhead sold for $637,500. Rago Arts and Auction Center image.

LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – An important four-part tile panel by renowned ceramicist Frederick H. Rhead sold for $637,500 at an auction conducted by Rago Arts and Auction Center on Saturday. The presale estimate for the unique work was $35,000-$45,000.

David Rago said Two Red Roses Foundation of Palm Harbor, Fla., was the buyer. According to the foundation’s website, Two Red Roses Foundation is a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to the acquisition, restoration and public exhibition of important examples of the American Arts & Crafts movement. It was founded by Florida businessman Rudy Ciccarello, who has assembled one of the largest personal collections of Arts & Crafts in America.

Rago described the tile panel as “extraordinary,” noting it was created by one of the top ceramic artists of the era.

Rhead created the 20 3/4-inch-square panel, which depicted a peacock, in 1910 during his tenure at University City pottery near St. Louis. The panel was a personal gift from Rhead to friend and Weller Pottery colleague Levi Burgess, for his Zanesville, Ohio, residence.

Rago said the home is still standing in Zanesville, and that he thought the tile panel was removed from the structure about 10 years ago. He said the panel was in excellent condition except for a small flat chip.

The panel, signed “Frederick H. Rhead, U.C. 1910,” is documented in Sharon Dale’s book Frederick Hurten Rhead: An English Potter in America, p. 64, fig. 72.

Rhead also worked for the Roseville Pottery, the American Encaustic Tiling Co. and at his own studio in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The sale of the tile panel was one of the many highlights of Rago’s three-day auction of 20th-21st century furnishings and decorative arts.

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

ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE

Looters strip Bulgaria of ancient treasures

An ancient gravestone from the 4th century BC Roman colony of Ratiaria carries an inscription about Tettius Rufus, a decurion [Roman cavalry officer] and pontiff. The gravestone is held in the collection of the National Archaeological Institute and Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria. Image by Vassia Atanassova, Spiritia, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic licenses.

ARCHAR, Bulgaria (AP) – On the banks of the Danube, in the northwest corner of Bulgaria, lie the remnants of an ancient Roman settlement called Ratiaria, host to a priceless cultural heritage. Craters pockmark the huge site, evidence of a scourge threatening one of the world’s great troves of antiquities: looters digging for ancient treasure to sell on the black market.

Archaeologist Krasmira Luka, who heads a team excavating part of the 80 hectare (200 acre) site, says the area has been repeatedly raided by thieves who dig pits looking for ancient coins and jewelry. Everything else, including precious ceramic vessels and other historically significant artifacts, is smashed to pieces.

“Destroying the items is not just a crime, it’s an irreparable tragedy,” Luka said, looking out at a moonscape littered with shards of ceramics or glassware destroyed by the diggers. “The day after our team leaves the site, the diggers are in place. It’s an uneven battle.”

Located on the crossroads of many ancient civilizations, Bulgaria is ranked by its scholars as behind only Italy and Greece in Europe for the numbers of antiquities lying in its soil. But Bulgaria has been powerless to prevent the rape of its ancient sites, depriving the world of part of its cultural legacy and also costing this impoverished Balkan nation much-needed tourism revenue.

Police reports indicate that every day up to 50,000 people are engaged in treasure hunting raids across Bulgaria, a country of 7.3 million. According to Angel Papalezov, a senior police officer, hundreds of thousands of artifacts are smuggled out of the country every year, with dealers hauling in up to $40 million.

But Ratiaria is the most drastic example of the looting that has been going on over the last 20 years, since the fall of communism. The first excavations here were carried out by Bulgarian archaeologists between 1958 and 1962. They were renewed in 1976 by an Italian team, but lack of funding forced them to leave the site in 1991.

Western experts call Ratiaria a world-class archaeological site that is under grave threat.

“Ratiaria has a great archaeological and historical significance not just of regional and national importance to Bulgaria but internationally for the study of the Roman Empire,” said Jamie Burrows, an archaeologist at the Nottingham University, who has spent several years working at Ratiaria.

“Such a site could have been North West Bulgaria’s ‘Pompeii’, bringing wealth to a poor region in need of such tourism,” he said in an email to The Associated Press. “Without quick efficient action this opportunity may sadly be missed.”

Ancient sites were protected during communist times by a strong fear of the omnipresent police and harsh punishments for any law-breaking activity. Since the collapse of the totalitarian system, many have taken up looting to earn a living. Organized by local mafia, looting squads that have mushroomed all over the country are well equipped with metal detectors, bulldozers, tractors and even decommissioned army vehicles.

Bulgaria hosts some of the most unique and vulnerable cultural resources in Europe.

In addition to the numerous Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlement mounds, there are significant remains of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine urban centers. Perhaps most notable among Bulgarian antiquities are the remains of the Thracians, a powerful warrior kingdom conquered only by Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. The best known Thracian remains in Bulgaria are tombs and burial mounds which contain stunning gold and silver work.

In early October, some 5,000 Roman items were handed over to the National History Museum in Sofia. They were seized at a border crossing with Serbia, just few miles (kilometers) west of Ratiaria.

Presenting the collection, museum director Bozhidar Dimitrov said that he was glad to have the lost treasure back — but also saddened because it was proof of how widespread illegal treasure hunting was in Bulgaria.

Through the broken windows of a deserted house on the Ratiaria site, there are pits up to three meters deep dug by looters under the floor.

“It was bought by looters who have used it as a shelter where they can dig without being bothered by police,” Luka said. If they get caught, they usually claim they are on their way to hand over the find to the museum.

Coins and other treasures found by looters are sold to people who smuggle them abroad. Roman items from Ratiaria can be found in auction houses and antiquity collections around the world. For the looters in a part of Bulgaria declared by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, as “the European Union’s poorest region,” the site represents an almost irresistible temptation.

Luka told the story of three men from the nearby village or Archar, who had found a golden coin and sold it to smugglers for 1,500 euro, which equals the amount of four monthly average salaries in Bulgaria. “Months later the same coin was sold in Germany at a price many times higher,” Luka said.

“But it is not only the looters with the shovels who are responsible,” Luka said, “there are a lot of people up the chain, and they enjoy the highest protection.” Over the last two decades, she said, organized crime groups have constantly bribed police officers, prosecutors and local officials who have sheltered their illegal activities. Those who usually get caught and sentenced, however, are from the lowest level of the well-organized scheme.

With more than 50 percent of the 2,700 inhabitants of Archar jobless, Mayor Emil Georgiev seems unable to stop the daily attacks of looters seeking the treasure that is supposed to change their life.

“Usually they work late at night or at weekends or holidays,” the mayor said, adding that some 20 villagers have been convicted over the last year and ordered to serve different terms of probation by performing community service.

“Recently we received government funds that guarantee jobs for just eight people who will work as guards at the archaeological site,” Georgiev said, raising his shoulders when asked how such a small group can protect the huge area.

In Vidin, the main city of the region, the newly appointed district governor Tsvetan Asenov said that preserving the archaeological site and opening it up for tourists was one of his priorities, but complained that this was not easy in a time of acute economic crisis.

Experts say they have no way to gauge the extent of the pillaging.

“There are hundreds of tombstones and statues in local museums, but what we don’t know exactly is how many more such relics were smuggled out of the country and are now in Italy, Munich or Vienna,” said Rumen Ivanov, Roman History professor at the National Institute of Archaeology.

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