January 11, 2013 - Auction Central News

The Shard pierces London’s skyline – and skewers critics

The Shard under construction but topped out, May 2012. Image by Bjmullan. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

LONDON (AFP) – The Shard, western Europe’s tallest skyscraper, opens its viewing platform to the public on Feb. 1, giving unrivaled views over London and defiantly snubbing critics of the gigantic tower.

The 110-meter (1,017-foot) Shard has been described as too tall, too futuristic, too likely to cast its shadow over London’s historic monuments – and too costly at a time of austerity, even though 95 percent of its £450 million ($727 million, 548 million euros) cost has been financed by Qatar.

William Matthews, project architect for the gleaming, jagged-tipped building designed by Italian super-architect Renzo Piano, dismisses the critics.

“The Eiffel tower was a building that was hated when it was built, and now it is much loved by the Parisians,” he told AFP on a tour of the Shard.

“These tall buildings – the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State building – they become symbols that people associate with their city.”

For Matthews, it was crucial for the public to have access to the new skyscraper.

“It’s not just a private building for a few exclusive people,” he said.

But visitors heading to the viewing decks between floors 68 and 72 will need deep pockets as well as a strong head for heights, with tickets costing £24.95 ($40, 30 euros) per adult.

The relatively steep prices – another criticism frequently leveled at the Shard’s developers – have not deterred everyone, however.

The attraction has taken tens of thousands of reservations and hopes its high-speed elevators will carry up to 1.5 million people each year to the deck, which offers stunning 360-degree views from a height of 244 meters.

“It’s a natural starting point for exploring the UK’s capital,” Andy Nyberg, chief executive of The View from The Shard, told AFP.

The attraction includes screens showing documentaries on the city’s history and inhabitants, as well as an introduction to British humor in the form of giant photo montages.

Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister known as the Iron Lady, is shown pedaling alongside her philosophical nemesis Karl Marx on a tandem bicycle.

World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill, meanwhile, appears in Union Jack-patterned shorts, his ever-present cigar clamped in his mouth.

Passengers will rise at a speed of 6 meters a second to reach the viewing platforms – the highest of which is open to the elements – to strains of original elevator music recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.

On a clear day, they will be able to see for 60 kilometers (nearly 40 miles) around – the River Thames snaking into the distance, along with famous landmarks including Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.

“It will feel like flying,” promises Piano, whose previous creations include the colorful Centre Pompidou art gallery in Paris.

To the east, the city’s other recent architectural additions – the Olympic venues dotted around an area that was previously one of London’s most deprived corners – join the futuristic skyscrapers of the financial district.

And just across the river, standing out from the mass of grey stone buildings with its ochre brickwork, sits the thousand-year-old Tower of London.

Though it is significantly shorter than Dubai’s 828-meter Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, the top of the Shard often disappears into the clouds.

But organizers insist that even those whose visits coincide with a bout of London’s famous drizzle will be able to enjoy the view, using computerized telescopes showing earlier images of the city bathed in sunshine.

Marketed as a “vertical city,” the Shard will be home to offices, luxury shops and restaurants, a five-star hotel and the highest residential properties in Britain.

Developers estimate that the building will have some 8,000 inhabitants once fully occupied.

From ground level, the view of the tower itself is as striking as the one from its summit. Passers-by provide a telling indication of what the public thinks of the new building, says Piano.

He likes to quote the advice of his compatriot and friend, the filmmaker Roberto Rossellini: “Don’t look at the building – look at the faces of the people looking at the building.”

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Antiquities Saleroom to auction Pre-Columbian art treasures Feb. 1

Moche mythological beast jar, ex-Platt Friedenberg collection, North Coast Peru, circa 400-500 CE. Estimate $6,000-$10,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – Provenance and pedigree combine to form a compelling reason to bid in Antiquities Saleroom’s Feb. 1 sale of premier Pre-Columbian art. The 110-piece selection offered in the absentee and Internet (through LiveAuctioneers.com) auction comes from the carefully curated collections of two Hollywood notables – an Emmy Award-winning executive producer/writer, and a producer/director who specializes in movie trailers.

Together, the collections provide an unbroken timeline that traces the fascinating and mysterious ancient civilizations of Central and South America. The auction showcases all of the better-known cultures, such as Aztec, Incan and Mayan; as well as the Pre-Columbian Moche, Salinar, Chancay and Chinesco cultures. Together, the collections are valued at no less than $900,000.

“We are accustomed to handling very fine pieces, but the examples in these two collections are genuinely investment grade and would be welcomed with open arms at any major museum in the world,” said Bob Dodge, co-owner of Antiquities Saleroom. “The first collector – the TV producer – specialized in Mayan and Southeast Mexican artifacts, including pieces from Veracruz and Olmec. The second collection is very wide ranging and includes articles from far south Peru and Chile to Northern Mexico and the West Coast cultures. The owner immersed himself in the antiquities trade so he could become a well-educated buyer. He attended all of the major shows and bought from every prominent dealer.”

Most pieces in the auction boast provenance from distinguished sources, including Sotheby’s, Christie’s, the Denver Art Museum and even Andy Warhol, who reportedly had a discerning eye for antiquities. In addition, several artworks are of monumental height, exceeding 30 inches. “That is almost unheard of in this business and is always exciting to collectors,” Dodge noted.

Some of the finest Moche art to reach the auction market in a decade will be featured in the Feb. 1 sale. According to Dodge, Moche artisans (Peru, circa 400-500 CE) were among the earliest to incorporate portraiture and humor into their pottery production. A prime example is the erotic drinking vessel of a male with well-defined facial features and a disproportionately large, erect phallus that serves as a spout. It is expected to make $12,000-$15,000.

Other Moche highlights include a terracotta stirrup vessel shaped as a stern-faced warrior with a diminutive prisoner of war hoisted onto his shoulder, est. $8,000-$12,000; and a beautifully patterned pottery jar modeled as a mythological creature, part serpent and part jaguar with deer antlers. Formerly in the Platt Friedenberg and University of Virginia Art Museum collections, it is estimated at $6,000-$10,000.

Very rare and desirable, a Colima (West Mexico, circa 200 BCE – 200 CE) terracotta redware vessel is formed as a row of three finely detailed ducks with a spout emerging from one side. It measures 11 inches wide and could reach $5,000-$7,000 at auction.

From the Central Mexico Mixtec culture comes a carved redstone stele carved with the image of a fierce running warrior in full battle dress, holding a feather shield and war club. “This object would have been used as a boundary marker to warn intruders to stay away or their warriors would come after them,” said Dodge. Formerly in a Zurich museum, the lot is expected to sell for $20,000-$30,000.

A two-tone janiform Jalisco (Mexico, circa 0-200 CE) pottery jar depicts a pair of dogs conjoined on four feet. Acquired many years ago from the Ron Messick Gallery, the Pre-Columbian rarity is entered in the sale with a $5,000-$7,000 estimate.

From the Mayan Territories, a circa 500-900 CE carved volcanic stone skull exhibits deep eye sockets and applied shells to replicate teeth. A large-beaked bird is carved into the top of the skull and points its beak into the center of the skull’s forehead. Macabre and alluring at the same time, it is estimated at $4,000-$6,000.

Formerly in the personal collection of pop art genius Andy Warhol, a three-tiered Pre-Columbian Mayan polychrome jar from Honduras, circa 500-900 CE, features dancing stick figures, glyphoids and lotus blossoms on its bands. It commands an auction estimate of $3,000-$4,000.

Many high-carat gold antiquities are included in the sale. A Pre-Columbian Moche (Peru, circa 100-400 CE) royal ceremonial scepter or “atl atl” is decorated with a standing lord carved from bone on a turquoise mosaic platform. Highly important, it carries a pre-sale estimate of $30,000-$40,000. There are several bas-relief gold masks in the auction, as well as a Sican (Chimu Culture, Peru, circa 800-1,000 CE) beaker with the face of the god Naylamp crafted in relief on its surface. The deity wears gold earrings with turquoise beads and has repousse “hair.” The piece formerly belonged to Ian Arundel, proprietor of The Curiosity Shop on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. In the 1950s and ’60s, Arundel’s shop was a magnet for collectors of the day, including Vincent Price and John Wayne. The beaker is estimated at $15,000-$20,000.

Bob Dodge stressed that all items offered for sale in the Feb. 1 auction have been legally acquired, are legal to resell and are unconditionally guaranteed to be authentic and as described in the catalog. “We do not sell replicas or anything ‘in the style of’ any ancient culture. Also, no sale is ever final. We want only satisfied customers,” Dodge said.

Antiquities Saleroom’s Exceptional Pre-Columbian Art from Hollywood Auction will commence at 12 noon Eastern Time on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Bid absentee or live via the Internet through LiveAuctioneers.com.

For additional information on any item in the auction call Managing Director Teresa Dodge at 720-890-7700. E-mail: antiquitiessaleroom@gmail.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

Fine Nayarit standing warrior, West Mexico, circa 200 CE. Estimate $7,500-$10,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Humorous Moche erotic drinking vessel, North Coast Peru, circa 400 CE. Estimate $12,000-$15,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Moche stirrup vessel warrior and captive, North Coast Peru, circa 400-500 CE. Estimate $8,000-$12,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Extremely rare Colima triple-duck vessel, West Mexico, circa 200 BCE-200 CE. Estimate $5,000-$7,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Mixtec stone stele depicting a running warrior, ex-museum collection, Mexico, 1200-1300 CE. Estimate $20,000-$30,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

A Jalisco janiform dog vessel, rare form, Mexico, circa 0-200 CE. Estimate $5,000 - $7,000. Antiquities Saleroom image. — A Jalisco janiform dog vessel, rare form, Mexico, circa 0-200 CE. Estimate $5,000 – $7,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Mayan volcanic stone skull, Mayan Territories, circa 500-900 CE. Estimate $4,000-$6,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Rare and important Moche royal gold atl atl, North Coast Peru, circa 100-400 CE. Estimate $30,000-$40,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Sican gold beaker with depiction of the god Naylamp, North Coast Peru, circa 800-1,000 CE. Estimate $15,000-$20,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Mayan Ulua Valley banded vessel, ex-Andy Warhol collection, Honduras, circa 500-900 CE. Estimate $3,000-$4,000. Antiquities Saleroom image.

Baer & Bosch sale Jan. 19 boasts top names in timekeeping

Patek Philippe cuff links. Baer & Bosch Auctioneers Inc. image.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Baer & Bosch Auctioneers will present a large selection of important wristwatches, pocket watches and clocks at auction from various collectors on Saturday, Jan. 19, beginning at 10 a.m. MST. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live biddings.

There will be fine and usual pieces from Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breguet, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet, Panerai, Le Roy, Piaget, De Beers, and many more.

This nearly 250-lot auction features several interesting Patek Philippe items such as cuff links, original lithographs and ephemera. Included is an extraordinary fine yellow gold Henry Dunay belt with diamonds. Dunay is best known for his Sabi technique and has created important pieces for Elizabeth Taylor and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Also included will be a rare yellow gold Vacheron & Constantin coin watch, Cartier travel clocks, and a collection of horology books from a library of an East Coast collector about Antide Janvier, Lepine, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Breguet, Patek Philippe, and Van Cleef and Arpels.

For details contact Baer & Bosch Auctioneers at 307-200-8880. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.com.

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

Henry Dunay belt. Baer & Bosch Auctioneers Inc. image.

Vacheron coin watch. Baer & Bosch Auctioneers Inc. image.

Reading the Streets: Brussels, city of the comic strip

TinTin mural, comic strip by Hergé, Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Kelsey Savage.

BRUSSELS, Belgium – The birthplace of TinTin, the Smurfs and many other famous comic book characters, Belgium, particularly Brussels, has a long tradition of celebrating the art form. The city honors the strips not only with a museum dedicated to exploring the artistic expression, but also with a series of murals that the city began installing in 1993.

Totaling 31 walls today, with more added every year, the murals pay homage to TinTin, to the Adventures of Nero, to Lucky Luke, on various buildings throughout the city. Among the classic gothic architecture that dominates Brussels, the paintings pop.

They remind both tourists and natives of Brussels’ right to be called the capital of the comic strip, but many also tease the city about its heritage. For instance, in the Cubitus mural, the strip by Dupa’s mischievous bear character replaces Mannekan Piss, the infamous fountain of a little peeing boy, who is left to look on, scowling.

Following the Comic Book Route is a unique way to explore the city and learn a little more about its icons. While the strips and characters brighten the streets and exude a vibrant cheerfulness at first look, many of the strips use deceptively child-friendly imagery to reflect upon political and cultural issues within a socially acceptable forum. Brussels’ public embrace of the art signifies an open mind to an often counter-culture message.

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Cubitus mural, comic strip by Dupa, Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Kelsey Savage.

Author Norman Bridwell thankful for Clifford the Big Red Dog

First Lady Laura Bush poses with children and Clifford the Big Red Dog on the South Lawn during the 2007 White House Easter Egg Roll in 2007. White House photo by Shealah Craighead, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) – Norman Bridwell once thought it would be fun to have a dog as big as a horse that he could ride around his house.

The Kokomo native remembered that silly childhood idea in 1962 when he sat down to craft a sample painting he would show to publishing companies in New York.

The then-34-year-old picked up a paintbrush and reached for the fire engine red paint that sat on his desk.

By the time he put down the brush, Bridwell had created a picture of a larger-than-life, red bloodhound and the smiling, red-headed girl who loved her giant pet.

He didn’t know it at the time, but that painting would become the first image of Clifford the Big Red Dog – a storybook character beloved by children across the world, even today.

On Feb. 13, the Kokomo-Howard County Public library will host the first of three parties to honor the iconic character’s 50th birthday. The bash will be complete with crafts, cakes and games.

Bridwell never thought Clifford would still be popular 50 years after his creation.

“If I would have known he would last 50 years, I would have written him when I was 20 instead of when I was 34,” Bridwell told the Kokomo Tribune, laughing.

The 84-year-old said he has some trouble getting around these days. It was difficult for him to even make it from his home in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., to a recent ceremony in New York honoring Clifford’s milestone.

He made the trek anyway because the stories he created are important to him, he said.

That Clifford was published at all was a “happy accident,” the author said.

In 1962, he and his wife were commercial artists in New York City, but they hadn’t had any work in nearly two months.

They needed money, so his wife suggested he try his hand at illustrating children’s books.

He hatched a plan to wow publishers with about a dozen sample paintings he had created. Among them was the piece with the big, red dog.

Bridwell showed his collection to several publishers one day, hoping one of them needed a new illustrator.

“I was rejected every place,” he said. “One (editor) told me, ‘you’re not a very good artist. No one is going to buy your paintings.’”

Bridwell said he wasn’t exactly surprised by her reaction.

The author said he was never considered very good at drawing. In school, there was always someone better than he was.

The editor who criticized Bridwell’s work that day, though, had a piece of advice for him.

She told him he should try to create a story to go along with one of his paintings, and then try to sell it. She pointed to the picture with the dog and said that was the one.

Bridwell said he was so excited, he wrote the first Clifford story in three days.

But the dog’s name wasn’t Clifford then. He called the lovable canine “Tiny.”

“My wife said that was a stupid idea,” Bridwell said, chuckling.

She renamed the dog Clifford after an imaginary friend she once had.

And so a star was born.

Scholastic published the first book in 1963.

Since then, Bridwell estimates he’s written more than 50 books, though he lost count long ago.

His books have been translated into more than 13 languages. The stories even became a springboard for a PBS Kids television show and a musical.

It’s still the kids who read his stories that matter most to Bridwell.

Over the years, he has received letters from children all over the world. They came from as far away as Siberia.

Bridwell prided himself on responding to every letter he ever received.

“If a child cares enough to write me, they deserve a reply,” he said.

He once got a letter from a mother who said her son had gained confidence in school because of Bridwell.

The author had responded to one of the boy’s letters, and the kid took it to school and showed his classmates. They were impressed with him.

Bridwell dedicated one of his books to that child and kept in touch with him for more than 20 years. When he grew up, the kid became an Alaska park ranger. He used to write Bridwell letters while he was sitting around a campfire in a national park, the author said.

“He was a nice kid,” Bridwell said. “There was something special about him, the way he wrote.”

Bridwell once met an immigrant during a book signing in New York City. They had a conversation that really stuck with Bridwell.

The man came to America from Hong Kong. He hated his new life and wanted to return home, Bridwell said.

Then he picked up a Clifford book. He thought the illustrations were funny and wanted to know what the words below them said. So he taught himself to read using that book, Bridwell said.

The book even inspired the immigrant to pursue a love of art. He eventually opened his own design studio.

“You don’t expect to make that kind of difference,” Bridwell said.

But Bridwell knows he can’t take all the credit for his success. Luck played a role in it, too, he said.

“I’m lucky that Clifford was the kind of character that people wanted more of,” he said. “I’ve been very lucky that way. I sometimes feel like this is all a dream. How could this have happened to me?”

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Information from: Kokomo Tribune, http://www.ktonline.com

AP-WF-01-09-13 1525GMT

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Gold fever likely behind rash of Calif. museum thefts

A four-page foldout published in 1922 commemorates the California Gold Rush. Image courtesy LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and PBA Galleries.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The Oakland Museum of California offered a $12,000 reward Wednesday for the safe recovery of a stolen gold-encrusted jewel box – the latest in a series of thefts involving Gold Rush-era artifacts across the region.

The box stolen Monday depicts images of early California history and was originally a wedding anniversary gift from a San Francisco pioneer to his wife in the 1800s, museum director Lori Fogarty said.

It’s the size of a small shoebox and weighs about 3 pounds.

Oakland city officials have said the box was valued at more than $800,000, but Fogarty said it was difficult to put a price on the artifact.

“It’s very difficult to assign value to something like this,” she said. “But I can say it’s a treasure of our collection and a critical piece in our holdings.”

It was the second major theft in as many months from the popular Gallery of California History exhibit at the Oakland museum. Gold nuggets and other historic artifacts were taken in November. Police believe the same culprit may have committed both thefts.

Fogarty said the high price of gold – which was selling Wednesday at about $1,657 an ounce – might have prompted the break-ins.

“We don’t know if it’s related to the value of gold, if that is what the burglar is interested in,” Fogarty said. “But that’s certainly one of our fears.”

Nonetheless, the precious metal appears to have made targets of sites that house historical items. In September, a state mining and mineral museum in the Sierra foothills in Mariposa was robbed of an estimated $1.3 million in gold, precious gems and artifacts by thieves armed with pickaxes.

In February, thieves smashed a lobby display case at the Siskiyou County courthouse and made off with large chunks of gold. Both sites are in California’s Gold Country, where people from around the world came in the mid-1800s to strike it rich.

Four people have been arrested and charged in the Mariposa case.

Gold Rush memorabilia and items remain attractive to collectors because of the romance and myth associated with the era, said Gary Kurutz, a special collections curator at the California State Library in Sacramento.

“There are so many great stories associated with it – the letters, the diaries, the rare books, the prints and of course the actual gold nuggets,” he said.

Gold can be melted down, making it easy to fence. But Kurutz said someone would have a harder time offloading a jewel box like the one taken on Monday.

“You would not be able to take it to an auction house or any responsible antique dealer,” he said. “They would know immediately that this is hot.”

Elsewhere in the nation, about $400,000 in gold pieces were stolen from a museum in New Jersey two years ago, and a gold bar worth about $550,000 was taken from a Florida museum in 2010. That gold had been recovered from the shipwreck of a Spanish galleon off the Florida Keys.

Steve Keller, chair of the American Alliance of Museums security committee, said smaller museums that have gold on display are vulnerable to theft, although he did not include the Oakland museum in that category.

The museums “have sort of never had a problem in the past, so they assume they’re not going to have a problem now,” said Keller, who has his own security consulting company. “But times have changed.”

On Wednesday, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan pleaded publicly for the safe return of the jewel box stolen two days earlier. She said the artifact belongs to the city.

“This is not something you can sell on a street corner,” Quan said. “We hope those who will be approached will return it to the people of Oakland. This is a theft not only of a valuable object, but a theft of our history.”

It was not the first time the jewel box, which has been associated with the museum since the 1960s, was stolen. Fogarty said it was taken in 1978 and recovered at an auction house several years later.

Police declined to go into specifics about the latest theft, citing the ongoing investigation. Fogarty said the thefts at the museum involved items kept just a few feet apart, and the thief apparently broke in through an entrance near the museum garden.

The jewel box had been in a Plexi-glas case equipped with an alarm that sounded after it was stolen, she said, adding that police arrived in less than 5 minutes.

Both thefts were caught on security cameras, she added.

After the first theft in November, Fogarty said the museum added extra security guards and cameras.

“Obviously, we’d like our security measures to be better or this wouldn’t have happened,” Fogarty said. “But we do feel confident with that steps we took were appropriate and the enhanced security measures will aid in this investigation.”

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Thanawala reported from San Francisco.

AP-WF-01-09-13 2353GMT

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Archeologists unearth 3,000-year-old tombs in Egypt

Luxor Temple, from the east bank of the Nile. Image by Hajor at the English language Wikipedia. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-/share Alike 1.0 Generic license.

CAIRO (AP) – Egypt’s Antiquities Minister says Italian archaeologists have unearthed tombs over 3,000 years old in the ancient city of Luxor

Mohammed Ibrahim says the discovery was made beneath the mortuary temple of King Amenhotep II, seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty who reigned from 1427 to 1401 B.C. The temple is located on the western bank of the Nile.

Ibrahim says remains of wooden sarcophaguses and human bones were found inside the tombs.

Mansour Barek, head of Luxor antiquities, says jars used to preserve the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines of the deceased were found. They were decorated with images of the four sons of the god Horus – figures seen as essential by ancient Egyptians to help the soul of the deceased find its way to heaven.

AP-WF-01-10-13 1153GMT

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