‘Seascape’ by Ali Aschman, Brooklyn. Boats and animal/human hybrid motifs appear often in works by Ali Aschman, and the South African artist incorporated both in his blue and turquoise painting. Photo by Kelsey Savage.
NEW YORK – Two years since its launch, the murals on India Street in Greenpoint still hold strong and fulfill their creators’ intention to help beautify an industrial area. The North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition curated the display to help activate the space and engage and invigorate the neighborhood.
Six artists were chosen by a panel to participate and dress up the otherwise depressing waterfront: Ali Aschman, Robert Sent, Skewville, Joshua Abram Howard, Chris Soria, and Eve Biddle and Joshua Frankel – a diverse mix of both street and fine artists, most of whom live or work in Brooklyn.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
‘Seascape’ by Ali Aschman, Brooklyn. Boats and animal/human hybrid motifs appear often in works by Ali Aschman, and the South African artist incorporated both in his blue and turquoise painting. Photo by Kelsey Savage.‘Welcome to Greenpoint’ by Skewville, Brooklyn. Dockworkers who once contributed to the local economy centered on shipbuilding peer out of Skewville’s iconic block lettering. Photo by Kelsey Savage.Inspired by the burned-down Greenpoint Terminal Market, Chris Soria’s ‘Antiquated Giant’ references the decay and constant rebirth that takes place amid Brooklyn buildings. Photo by Kelsey Savage.‘Knock Knock’ by Robert Seng, Brooklyn. Seng replicated a nearby truck bay brick by brick on top of the wall’s original door for an incredible juxtaposition of realistic camouflage. Photo by Kelsey Savage.‘Super Duper Sound System’ by Joshua Abram Howard. The striking black and white graphic imitates a Native American potlatch ritual, a type of community gathering of exchange. Photo by Kelsey Savage.‘India Street Rocket’ by Eve Biddle and Joshua Frankel, Brooklyn. The married couple Biddle and Frankel work to instill a sense of childhood wonderment with their brightly colored style. Photo by Kelsey Savage.
Among the items already consigned to Leighton Galleries’ Dec. 6 auction is this enameled diamond and opal cocktail ring, est. $600-$700. Leighton Galleries image.
ALLENDALE, N.J. – Due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey’s Leighton Galleries is extending its dates and hours for acceptance of consignments to their planned Dec. 6 auction.
Leighton’s management invites potential consignors to bring items to the company’s gallery from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9 and Monday Nov. 12. The Dec. 6 auction features fine jewels, but sterling silver, fine art and other valuable objects will also be accepted for consignment.
Leighton Galleries is located at 6-C Pearl Court in Allendale, NJ 07401. For additional information, call 201-327-8800 or e-mail info@leightongalleries.com.
Visit the company online at www.leightongalleries.com.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Among the items already consigned to Leighton Galleries’ Dec. 6 auction is this enameled diamond and opal cocktail ring, est. $600-$700. Leighton Galleries image.
An extraordinary archive of letters from lyricist Ira Gershwin, offering rare insights into the mind and method of his brother and collaborator, composer George Gershwin. Estimate: $80,000-$120,000. PBA Galleries image.
SAN FRANCISCO – PBA Galleries will auction a remarkable collection of manuscript and autograph material on Thursday, Nov. 15. The sale is comprised of 174 select lots of rare and interesting manuscripts, documents, letters, and other archival material relating to history, literature, science, culture and society. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
Subjects will range from the exodus of German Jews from Nazi Germany, to the occupation of Cuba and the Philippines by the U.S.; from the first female doctor in America to the genius of George Gershwin; U.S. presidents including Grant, McKinley, Taft, Harding, Eisenhower and the Roosevelts; early California; the Civil War; and World War II.
On offer is a fascinating and highly important archive of letters, documents, photographs and other material relating to the life and family of Alfred Schnurmann, a German Jew who managed to emigrate from Germany in 1940. The crucial events of the 20th century through the prism of a Jewish family who fled Nazi Germany, an era that saw two world wars, the rise of Nazism in Germany, the persecution and eventual genocide of the Jews, the founding of the Jewish state of Israel, and the rise of postwar America into a prosperous superpower.
All this and more is recorded in a remarkable assemblage of documents, letters, photographs and other items saved by Schnurmann over the years, dating back to before his birth, and ending with the death of his daughter in 2010. There are over 500 letters between family members, friends, acquaintances and other refugees from Germany, about 150 of them from Palestine and Israel; over 200 documents relating to Alfred Schnurmann and his daughter Marion, including his attempts to emigrate from German; approximately 1,000 photographs, 400 or more from Germany before and during World War II, and more. The archive is estimated at $80,000-$120,000.
Perhaps the most influential force in American music during the first half of the 20th century was George Gershwin, composer and pianist, creator of the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, as well as the opera Porgy and Bess. Gershwin died from a brain tumor in 1937, not yet 40 years of age, but his music lived on. Throughout most of his career he collaborated with his older brother Ira, who wrote the lyrics to his compositions, and none knew him better. Up on the block is an extraordinary archive of letters from lyricist Ira Gershwin, offering rare insights into the mind and method of his brother and collaborator, composer George Gershwin.
The archive is composed of some 150 letters from Ira Gershwin to Edward Jablonski, discussing at length George Gershwin and his music, beginning in 1940 when the latter was still in high school. Jablonski was to become an important historiographer of musicians, publishing numerous works including a major biography of George Gershwin. Jablonski was infatuated with the music of the younger Gershwin, managed to find Ira’s address and wrote to him, beginning a correspondence, “and as it turned out, a friendship with Ira Gershwin.” Thus began four decades of letters, Ira responding to Jablonski’s endless queries about George and his music, with side trips into the music industry, Ira’s ongoing projects, his opinions of actors, actresses and singers, criticism of composers and lyricists, reviews of movies and dramatic productions, his thoughts on new records being released, Jablonski’s publishing and recording enterprises, family life and reminiscences. There is much more fabulous content, a rare assemblage of unpublished correspondence crucial to understanding the music and entertainment industry in the mid-20th century. The archive is estimated at $80,000-$120,000.
An archive of rare and significant manuscript material relating to President William McKinley, the Spanish-American War, and more, including letters from McKinley to his wife and to his future secretary of state will be sold. The material in the archive was passed down through the family of William R. Day, Ohio lawyer and judge, longtime associate, adviser and friend of William McKinley, who served as his assistant secretary of state and secretary of state during the Spanish-American War and the period leading up to it, headed the United States Peace Commission formed to negotiate an end to the war and was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by Theodore Roosevelt. Included is material not only relating to the Day family, but also the McKinley family, since Luther Day, son of William R. Day, married Ida Barber, William McKinley’s niece, daughter of his wife’s sister, Mary Saxton Barber. The McKinley’s two daughters died in childhood or infancy, so many of the family letters, such as those from William McKinley to his wife, descended through his sister-in-law’s family. Included is a group of five letters from William McKinley to his wife, Ida, written while president, part of a large archive of material relating to McKinley and his secretary of state (and later Supreme Court justice) William R. Day. This archive has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.
Also included is a revealing archive of letters, documents, reports and other material pertaining to the lead-up to the Spanish-American War and its execution, passed down through the family of Secretary of State William R. Day. It is estimated at $5,000-$8,000.
Other highlights include a letter from Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman doctor in America, to her brother, about buying the body of a black baby for dissection (estimate: $8,000-$12,000). A rare stencil typescript reports on operations of the 9th U.S. Army in France in the fall of 1944, compiled the following spring (estimate: $5,000-$8,000). An autograph note on a printed card, signed by Albert Einstein, thanking the recipient for their birthday greetings (estimate: $4,000-$6,000). An archive letters and documents to or from William Shepard Wetmore, China Trade merchant and supercargo, offering important insights into commercial transactions between East and West in the 19th century (estimate: $3,000-$5,000). An autograph letter signed by Ulysses S. Grant, to departing Mexican envoy Matias Romero, who had spent four years lobbying in Washington for aid fighting Emperor Maximilian I (estimate: $3,000-$5,000).
For details contact PBA Galleries by calling 415-989-2665.
Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
An important archive of letters, documents, photographs and other material relating to the life and family of Alfred Schnurmann, a German Jew who managed to emigrate from Germany in 1940. Estimate: $80,000-$120,000. PBA Galleries image.A group of five letters from William McKinley to his wife, Ida, part of a large archive of material relating to the president and his secretary of state (and later Supreme Court justice) William R. Day. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. PBA Galleries image.
A sampling of the extensive collection of Phoenix art glass comes from the 40-year private collection of Alan Goldfield, a recognized expert in the field. Clars Auction Gallery image. OAKLAND, Calif. – Clars Auction Gallery will host an exceptional sale of antiques on Saturday, Nov. 10. With more than 700 lots to be offered, this sale will feature an impressive array of important sterling offerings, an extensive Phoenix art glass collection, a major collection of gold and silver coins, important historic documents, and exceptional Asian and fine jewelry offerings. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The sale will begin at 9:30 a.m. PST.
An extensive collection of Phoenix art glass comes from the 40-year collection of Alan Goldfield, who is a recognized expert in the field. His collection was featured in James R. Lafferty’s book, The Phoenix. Offered at the auction will be all the original pieces featured in the book plus additional rare items numbering into the hundreds.
Coming to market at this auction will be a special offering of more than 250 lots of U.S. and world gold and silver coins from a private East Coast collection. Among the exceptional lots will be a high-grade 1877 Indian cent, a 1909 S VDB Lincoln cent as well as numerous certified silver dollars, half dollars and other collections in albums or rare dates in NGC holders.
The sterling silver offerings will be exceptionally strong with three particular highlights. The first is a British sterling silver hollowware and flatware ensemble comprised of 110 total pieces weighing 220.25 troy ounces. The ensemble includes a four-piece beverage suite by Edward & John Barnard, London, 1859; Fiddleback flatware service by Henry & Henry John Lias, London, 1859; Fiddleback flatware by George Williams Adams, London, 1875; plus an oak campaign chest having a fitted interior to accommodate the entire ensemble with interior brass plate reading “Widdowson & Veale, Goldsmiths” and exterior plate marked “Wymond Hamley Esq.” This entire set is estimated at $9,000-$12,000.
The second is an Old Newbury Crafters hand-wrought sterling flatware service for 12, eight pieces per place setting, weighing in total over 8 pounds. This set is estimated at $8,000-$12,000. The third highlight is a Read & Barton Francis I pattern service for 12, seven pieces per place setting (estimate: $5,000-$7,000).
Among the rare and historic documents and books to be offered will be a signed copy of the Theory of Relativity by Albert Einstein. This signed copy, estimated at $6,000-$8,000, is accompanied by a letter from Einstein to the former curator of the Huntington Library in Pasadena, Calif. In addition, a fine and rare edition of the book The Federalist is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
Rounding the special offerings in decorative furnishings will be an impressive selection of antique Persian textiles and a 1933 Ruskin silver mounted bowl (sterling mounts executed by Alfred E. Jones, Birmingham) in the Arts & Crafts style, which is estimated at $1,500-$2,000.
A collection of Chinese nephrite jade toggles and plaques from the Qing dynasty and Republic Period will be offered. The celadon and white jade toggles number over 20 with estimates ranging around $1,000 each. A pair of wooden panels is inset with porcelain plaques from the late Qing/Republic period. One panel is etched with a bird and spider above a rectangular plaque painted with two scholars seated beside a recumbent fu-lion. The other panel features an ovoid plaque depicting morning glory, above a lower plaque etched and painted with a male figure dancing to attract a beauty peering out the window of the villa. The pair of panels is estimated at $3,000-$5,000.
The stunning cover piece for the fine jewelry category is a 14K white gold ring with rose gold accents featuring a 3.11-carat round brilliant diamond, F color, VS-1 clarity, surrounded by 96 full-cut round diamonds with a total weight of 0.51 carats. The estimate for this ring is $80,000-$100,000. A splendid 7-plus-carat sapphire and diamond ring with accompanying GIA report features a very rare unheated sapphire. This ring is being offered with an estimate of $45,000-$55,000. Equally impressive is a 2.01-carat cushion shape diamond ring with accompanying GIA report stating I color estimated at $15,000- $20,000. A charming labradorite owl carving with feldspar stand by Andreas von Zadora-Gerlof is expected to earn $1,200-$1,600 and a gorgeous Bucellati yellow gold and diamond brooch is being offered for $3,000-$5,000.
Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com. For complete information and lots to be offered at the auction, call Clars at 510-428-0100 or email info@clars.com.
A sampling of the extensive collection of Phoenix art glass comes from the 40-year private collection of Alan Goldfield, a recognized expert in the field. Clars Auction Gallery image.This British sterling silver hollowware and flatware ensemble composed of 110 total pieces weighing 220.25 troy oz and includes an oak campaign chest having a fitted interior to accommodate the entire ensemble. The entire set is estimated at $9,000-$12,000. Clars Auction Gallery image.Among the rare and historic documents and books to be offered will be this signed copy of the ‘Theory of Relativity’ by Albert Einstein and is accompanied by a letter from Einstein (estimate: $6,000-$8,000). Clars Auction Gallery image. This two-panel screen is inset with four porcelain plaques from the late Qing/early Republic period. The screen features two oval-form plaques etched with bird and flowers above two rectangular plaques etched and painted with narrative figural scenes. Clars Auction Gallery image.This stunning 7-carat sapphire and diamond ring with accompanying GIA report is being offered with an estimate of $45,000-$55,000. Clars Auction Gallery image.
Important pair of Tidewater, Va., Chippendale cherry side chairs, circa 1770. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va. – Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates will sell Americana and fine antiques from Virginia and the South on Saturday, Nov. 10. The 643-lot auction will begin at 9:30 a.m. EST. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.
The sale will featuring the collection of Sally and the late Stanley Greenbaum of Williamsburg, Va., and material descended in Shenandoah Valley families.
The sale is composed of an outstanding selection of rare Virginia and other Southern material, 18th and 19th century furniture, fine and decorative arts, outstanding folk pottery, important folk art, textiles including samplers, decoys, baskets and other country accessories, Southern coin and English silver, ceramics, select Virginia manuscript material and more.
The Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Fall Lecture Series will be held in conjunction with the auction. On Friday, Nov. 9, at 6 p.m. the featured speaker will be Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Davison, independent decorative arts scholar and author of The Furniture of John Shearer, 1790-1820: A True North Britain in the Southern Backcountry. This lecture and book signing is open to the public and without charge.
The featured lot in the auction is an important Washington County, Md., walnut schrank, circa 1790, which has descended through seven generations of the Keiffer Funk family, Dry Spring Farm, just east of Hagerstown. The yellow pine and walnut schrank stands 91 inches high by 78 inches wide by 22 inches deep. The interior features shelves on the left side and an open compartment with pegs for hanging garments on the right side. It survives in a remarkable state of preservation and retains its original brass H-hinges and drop-bail drawer pulls, turned feet and an excellent old dry surface that is possibly original. It has an estimate of $30,000-$50,000.
A photograph of this schrank in an upstairs room at the Funk family homestead was part of an article on Dry Spring Farm published in the Aug. 6, 2000 issue of the Hagerstown newspaper Herald-Mail Sunday. The article was reprinted by Patricia Schooley in her 2002 publication, Architectural & Historic Treasures of Washington County, Maryland, on p. 126.
The identity of this schrank’s maker is not currently known, however, it exhibits architectural design elements (raised six-panel doors and double-ogee molded pilasters) and construction methods (wedged dovetails) that indicate it was produced by a local house joiner of German decent. The schrank’s cornice profile and manner in which it is fabricated is consistent with other pieces from the Washington County, Md., area.
Senior auctioneer and Southern decorative arts specialist Jeff Evans observed that schranks produced south of the Mason-Dixon Line are rare. “The fact that this example survives in its original condition is a testament to it descending in the same family for more than 200 years and residing in the same residence for at least 175 years,” he said.
Another rare item is a signed Fry and Davis, Woodstock, Va., walnut tall-case clock that stands 100 inches tall. Jacob Fry (d. 1814) and Caleb Davis (1769-1834) worked together from 1796 to around 1800. Only five or six clocks signed for this short-lived partnership are known, notes Evans. It has a $15,000-$25,000 estimate.
Among folk art highlights is a fine Augusta County, Va., baptismal fraktur for Johannes Haffner by Peter Bernhart, dated 1804. This 8-by-13-inch fraktur represents one of only two recorded uses of mermaids by Bernhart. It was included in the landmark exhibition “Southern Folk Art” at the Museum of American Folk Art in 1984. It is estimated at $8,000-$12,000.
Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.
Important Washington County, Md., walnut schrank, circa 1790. Estimate: $30,000-$50,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image. Rare signed Fry and Davis, Woodstock, Va., walnut tall-case clock. Estimate: $15,000-$25,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.Augusta Co., Va., baptismal fraktur for Johannes Haffner by Peter Bernhart, dated 1804, 8 inches by 13 inches. Estimate: $8,000-$12,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image. Rare Shenandoah Valley of Virginia earthenware bear-form manganese-glazed inkstand in four parts, attributed to Anthony Bacher, Winchester, Va. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.Russian school Czar Paul I portrait, oil on canvas, 18th/19th century, 28 1/2 by 23 1/2 inches, attributed to a follower of Dmitry Levitsky or Stepan Schukin. Estimate: $1,000-$1,500. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.
The Tepees in Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona. According to a National Park Service (NPS) document, rock strata exposed in the Tepees area of the park belong to the Blue Mesa Member of the Chinle Formation and are about 220 to 225 million years old. The colorful bands of mudstone and sandstone were laid down during the Triassic, when the area was part of a huge tropical floodplain. Oct. 4, 2010 photo by Finetooth, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — They are called “conscience” rocks and there are piles of them in northern Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park.
Unlike the “pet rock” craze of past years, these rocks aren’t keepers.
The Arizona Daily Sun reports that some of the rocks were mailed back by people citing curses. Some were seized during inspections.
Some park visitors were caught in the act of stealing. Some of the stone was tossed out of car doors and windows before the visitors who took them reached the inspection station at the entrance of the park.
The National Park Service estimates that about a ton of petrified wood a month is stolen from the 220,000-acre park’s 600,000 annual visitors. The estimate is based on the amount of rocks mailed back, picked up along the side of the road near the exits and seized.
The rocks once had been wood, part of a large forest that existed 200 million years ago. Time and sediment had slowly turned the wood to stone quartz, preserving tree rings and bark so the modern world could marvel at the beauty.
The rocks — some pieces as big as a briefcase, others as small as a silver dollar — make a pile weighing tons.
“Once it’s removed from the original place, the damage is done,” Park ranger Kip Woolford said. “There’s no way to put it back where it originally came from.”
The stones have been taken “out of their context,” Woolford said. They no longer have scientific value and are placed on the piles.
There’s no way to know for sure how much is taken. The park has more petrified wood than anywhere else in the world.
Matthew Smith, museum technician at the park, says that the museum’s collection of letters sent with conscience rocks has about 1,200 pages written between the 1930s and now. Packages dropped off at the fee collection booths at the park sometimes come with letters, but not always. He gets three to six new letters a month.
The minimum fine for stealing petrified wood or pottery shards or any archaeological artifacts is $350. The price goes up the bigger the weight and quantity of the “specimens,” said Nick Poulos, a park law enforcement ranger. The crime is a misdemeanor.
The typical response from visitors who are caught: “‘It’s just a small piece. I thought it was OK,'” Poulos said.
About two miles from the pile of conscience rocks at the southern entrance to the park, the Rainbow Forest Museum has a display of letters from people all over the world who have returned rocks that were stolen from the park.
The display is called “Mystery of the Conscience Wood.” Sitting on a bench is a large piece of wood. Ranger Lauren Carter says a man came into the museum with it. He had said his father had stolen it 55 years ago. He had hidden the hefty piece of petrified wood in his truck under a stack of potatoes. There was talk of a family curse.
“It could be a manifestation of their guilt probably,” said Carter, pointing to a three-ring binder underneath the display. The binder contains letters from all over the world from people who have returned pieces of petrified wood they or family members stole from the park. Many of the letters have a theme of bad luck.
Poulos said visitors may pick up the petrified wood to look at it. That’s fine, as long as they put the rocks back where they found them.
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Information from: Arizona Daily Sun, http://www.azdailysun.com/
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The Tepees in Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona. According to a National Park Service (NPS) document, rock strata exposed in the Tepees area of the park belong to the Blue Mesa Member of the Chinle Formation and are about 220 to 225 million years old. The colorful bands of mudstone and sandstone were laid down during the Triassic, when the area was part of a huge tropical floodplain. Oct. 4, 2010 photo by Finetooth, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
The Fairfield Inn in Fairfield, Pa., April 11, 2011 image by Acroterion, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.FAIRFIELD, Pa. (AP) – A central Pennsylvania inn that dates back to 1757 and has sheltered famous guests such as Patrick Henry and Robert E Lee has been sold for $700,000.
The (Hanover) Evening Sun says the winning bid by Katherine Bigler of Orrtanna for the Fairfield Inn in Adams County was $50,000 more than her original price at Saturday afternoon’s auction.
Bigler, who will be the 27th owner of the inn, said she was attracted by the history of one of America’s oldest inns.
A large crowd gathered in the dining room of the inn for the auction but there were only two bidders, with most people there only to witness a moment in the inn’s 250-year history.
Among the onlookers was former owner Dave Thomas, who said it was his first time visiting the inn since he sold it 10 years ago. He said the experience of being back and seeing the place sold again was strange and bittersweet.
Similar emotions were expressed by Sal and Joan Chandon, who bought the property in 2002. Sal Chandon said they enjoyed serving guests and explaining the history of the inn, playing much the same role as innkeepers did 200 years ago.
“Our life is here. The Inn has taken care of us as much as we have taken care of it,” he said.
But after 10 years, he said, it’s time for a break. Sal Chandon said he hopes to devote more time to his sound engineering business the family also plans to travel.
They will remain owners for at least four more months, and plan to help Bigler and her husband, John Kramb, for their first few months of ownership.
Sal Chandon said he’s happy that he will be able to celebrate the 255th Christmas at the Inn with guests this year.
Bigler said she has no immediate plans for changes at the inn, since she likes what the Chandons have done with the property.
“We’re excited,” she said.
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Information from: The Evening Sun, http://www.eveningsun.com
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Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Fairfield Inn in Fairfield, Pa., April 11, 2011 image by Acroterion, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Last lifeboat successfully launched from the ‘Titanic,’ April 15, 1912. Photo was taken by a passenger on the ‘Carpathia,’ the ship that received the ‘Titanic’s’ distress signal and came to rescue the survivors. National Archives and Records Administration image, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 278338.LONDON (AP) – A British safety official who inspected the “Titanic” before its maiden voyage thought it should have more lifeboats, according to his private notes, which are being offered for sale this month.
However, Capt. Maurice Clarke, a Board of Trade safety and emigration officer, didn’t express that belief when he testified at the official British inquiry into the ship’s sinking. He also was not asked then whether he thought Titanic carried an adequate number of lifeboats.
There is no record of Clarke ever expressing his view publicly, auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said Friday.
The U.S. Senate’s inquiry concluded that 2,223 people were aboard the Titanic but there was room for fewer than 1,200 in its lifeboats. The ship had plenty of lifebelts for everyone but it sank in frigid water on the night of April 14-15, 1912, and only 706 people aboard survived.
Henry Aldridge & Son auctioneers are offering 70 pages of Clarke’s private papers at a sale on Nov. 24 in Devizes, England. It’s the last of a series of sales marking the centennial of the ship’s sinking.
Clarke’s notes indicate he was rebuffed by the White Star Line and he believed he had no legal grounds to require more lifeboats. In his notes, Clarke wrote “I suggest 50 percent more.”
“To deviate from regulations which had been drawn up by the Advisory Committee of Ships owners and approved of by my department would leave me without support,” Clarke wrote.
Clarke did not testify at the U.S. Senate’s inquiry, but its official report zeroed in on the lifeboat issue. It called for U.S. law to “require sufficient lifeboats to accommodate every passenger and every member of the crew.”
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Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Last lifeboat successfully launched from the ‘Titanic,’ April 15, 1912. Photo was taken by a passenger on the ‘Carpathia,’ the ship that received the ‘Titanic’s’ distress signal and came to rescue the survivors. National Archives and Records Administration image, cataloged under the ARC Identifier (National Archives Identifier) 278338.
Rare teapot by George Ohr, $40,000-$60,000. Price realized: $46,875. Rago Arts & Auction Center image. LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. – Bolstered by the sale of a unique Frederick H. Rhead tile panel at $637,500, Rago Arts and Auctions Center’s 20th/21st Century Design sale Oct. 26-28 totaled $6.6 million.
“Hurricane Sandy, bearing down on us, made only slightly more noise than the results of the auction,” said David Rago. “The sale grossed $6.6 million and the market, especially for high end Arts and Crafts, was very, very solid. The Rhead tile gets the headlines but many records were broken for a number of American potteries. The Forbes sale was strong almost right across the board, hammering right in the middle of the estimate range.”
The Rhead tile sale topples the auction record set in November 1999 with the sale of Barbara Streisand’s Gustav Stickley sideboard at Christie’s for $596,500. The buyer is the Two Red Roses Foundation of Palm Harbor Florida, a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to the acquisition, restoration, and public exhibition of important examples of decorative and fine art from the American Arts & Crafts movement.
Highlights of the Oct. 26 pottery and glass session were a Tiffany Studios Favrile vase that sold for $10,625; Mary Scheier Square Dancers redware figures, $5,000; five Bohemian art glass vases, $2,875; Galloway (attr.) pair of tall garden urns, $2,375 and a rare Roblin enameled cabinet vase, $2,375.
Arts and Crafts highlights from Oct. 27 were the Frederick Rhead for University City peacock tile panel $637,500; a Tiffany Studios rare tall floriform vase, $100,000; a unique and important Dard Hunter hall chair, $46,875; a George Ohr Rare corseted teapot, $46,875; an important Mary L. Yancey/Iowa State vase, $45,000; a Tiffany Studios rare glazed earthenware Milkweed vase, $42,500; Alexander Fisher triptych, In Praise of Womanhood, $40,625; a rare Van Briggle pottery vase, $40,000; a rare Karl Kipp Roycroft fernery, $33,750; and a Tiffany Studios Favrile glass vase, $33,750.
The three-day sale concluded Oct. 28 with 20th/21st century design. Hightlights were a Wharton Esherick double pedestal desk, $62,500; a George Nakashima Minguren II coffee table, $53,125; Harry Bertoia Untitled Sculpture (Bush), $53,125; a Harry Bertoia tall Sonambient sculpture, $50,000; six George Nakashima Conoid dining chairs, $36,250; a Finn Juhl, Niels Vodder early Chieftain chair, $32,500; a George Nakashima hanging wall case, $28,750; a George Nakashima cross-legged dining table, $26,250; and a Paul Evans directional sculptured metal cabinet, $25,000.
Consignments are now being accepted for the next 20th Century Design auctions, March 2-3. Call Rago Arts and Auction Center at 609-397-9374 or email info@ragoarts.com.
Henry Moore (English, 1898-1986), ‘Draped Seated Woman,’ 1957-8, bronze, edition of 6. Photo taken July 27, 2002. Copyright Nigel Homer.LONDON (AP) – Director Danny Boyle has joined leading British arts figures urging a cash-strapped local authority not to sell off a valuable Henry Moore sculpture, arguing it should be erected in London’s Olympic Park instead.
“Draped Seated Woman” is owned by London’s Tower Hamlets Council and stood for years on a public housing complex in the city’s East End.
Last month the council announced plans to sell the bronze artwork to offset funding cuts. Estimates of its value range from 5 million pounds to 20 million pounds ($8 million to $32 million).
Tower Hamlets Mayor Luthur Rahman said the local authority faced a “stark choice” at a time of economic weakness and government austerity.
Moore, who died in 1986, is one of Britain’s best-known 20th-century artists, and his curved, semi-abstract forms stand in public spaces around the world.
He sold “Draped Seated Woman” to the now-defunct London County Council in 1960 for a token price so it could enrich the lives of residents in a poor area.
During its years in the East End it became known locally as “Old Flo” and was regularly vandalized.
When the housing project was demolished in the late 1990s, the work was moved to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in northern England.
The proposal to sell it has sparked a campaign to return the artwork to east London, a vibrant but poverty-scarred area that hosted this summer’s Olympic Games.
Boyle, artists Jeremy Deller and Rachel Whiteread, Tate galleries director Nicholas Serota and the sculptor’s daughter Mary Moore are among signatories to a letter asking the council to reconsider.
Boyle, who won an Academy Award for “Slumdog Millionaire” and directed the opening ceremony of the Olympics, said Monday that the sculpture “defies all prejudice in people’s minds about one of London’s poorest boroughs.”
“That alone makes it priceless to every resident,” he said. “Let’s put it in the Olympic Park alongside the Bradley Wiggins Bell” — rung by the British cycling champion to mark the opening of the games.
The Museum of London also has offered to display the sculpture.
The council is due to decide on the work’s fate on Wednesday.
Click to view Sir Henry Moore’s “Draped Seated Woman”:
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Henry Moore (English, 1898-1986), ‘Draped Seated Woman,’ 1957-8, bronze, edition of 6. Photo taken July 27, 2002. Copyright Nigel Homer.
