January 17, 2013 - Auction Central News

Wellfleet Preservation Hall lands Michael Apted’s ‘56 UP’

'56 UP,' a documentary film by Michael Apted. Image courtesy First Run Features.

WELLFLEET, Mass. – The latest installment of the ground-breaking documentary film series known as “The Up Series,” 56 UP will screen at Wellfleet Preservation Hall on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m.

This screening is a part of Wellfleet Preservation Hall’s Independent Documentary Series. Curated and produced by Managing Director Vanessa Downing, this series features a diverse, hand-picked selection of newly released documentary films that are independently produced, and in some cases locally made. The array of subjects is certain to tantalize even the most discerning viewer. Screenings are held the first Friday and/or Saturday of every month through April. Scheduled upcoming films include Ferlinghetti: A Rebirth of Wonder and My Louisiana Love.

Offering an extraordinary look at the unfolding of lives, The Up Series has been called “an inspired, almost noble use of the film medium” by film critic Roger Ebert.

In 1964, filmmaker Michael Apted began his career as a researcher on a new experimental series for Granada TV called Seven Up, which explored the Jesuit maxim “Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man.” The original concept was to interview 14 children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds from all over England, to see whether a class system was in place. By asking the children about their lives and their dreams for the future, differences in attitudes and opportunity were witnessed.

For almost a half century, Apted has interviewed the original group every seven years, examining the progression of their lives. Now they are 56. From cab driver Tony, to schoolmates Jackie, Lynn and Susan and the iconoclast Neil, the present age brings more life-changing decisions and surprising developments. From success and disappointment, marriage and childbirth, to poverty and illness, nearly every facet of life is discussed with the group, as they assess whether their lives have ultimately been ruled by circumstance or self-determination.

About The Up Sereies, Apted says: “This project has spanned my entire working life. It has been a unique and fulfilling experience, the one I treasure most in my career. I owe a debt to Granada for their five decades of unstinting support, to First Run Features for launching the films in the USA and sticking with us, but my biggest debt is to the participants for their commitment and courage in seeing it all through. It’s no small matter offering your life up for public appraisal every seven years to a large international audience. I’ve known them so long that they’re more like a family than fellow workers. Like a family, we’ve had our good times, our disagreements, but now, all but one of the participants are back for 56UP. I never know how each new film will turn out, except that it’ll be quite different from the last. 21 UP was full of hope, 28 was about children and responsibility, 35 was concerned with mortality when some were losing parents, and 49 had a sense of disappointment with lives maybe not fully achieved. Yet 56 is quite different again, which goes to prove, if nothing else, that our series mirrors life, and is always full of surprises.”

Michael Apted is of one of the most prolific directors of his generation. Since the 1960s, Apted has helmed an extensive list of feature films and documentaries. His feature films include Coal Miner’s Daughter, Gorky Park, Gorillas in the Mist, Thunderheart, Nell, The World is Not Enough, Enigma, Amazing Grace, and the third installment of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. His most recent film, Chasing Mavericks for Walden Media and Twentieth Century Fox, tells the true story of Jay Moriarity, the youngest person to surf Mavericks, a famous giant wave in Northern California.

Apted’s documentary credits include, the Boris Grebenshikov film The Long Way Home, Incident at Oglala, Bring on the Night, Moving the Mountain, Me and Isaac Newton, The Power of the Game, and his other longitudinal series Married in America I and II. He also directed the official 2006 World Cup Film. But among Apted’s most widely recognized documentary directorial achievements are his internationally acclaimed, award-winning sequels based on the original 7 UP documentary: 7 Plus 7, 21, 28, 35, 42 UP, 49 UP, and the recent 56 UP, which aired in May on ITV to much acclaim. In addition to his documentary and feature work, Apted has worked extensively in television, including directing the first three episodes of HBO’s epic series Rome.

Apted was born in England in 1941 and studied law and history at Cambridge University. He has received numerous awards and nominations for his extensive body of work, including a Grammy, British Academy Awards, a DGA Award and the International Documentary Association’s highest honor, the IDA Career Achievement Award. By the order of Queen Elizabeth II, Apted was recently made a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for his work in the film and television industries.

Wellfleet Preservation Hall is the outer cape’s newest community cultural center offering performances, education, arts and cultural programs throughout the year. Opened in May 2011, the hall has brought a renewed vibrancy to the heart of Wellfleet center.

Wellfleet Preservation Hall is located at 335 Main St., Wellfleet, MA 02667. Tickets are $10 and available at www.wellfleetpreservationhall.org or phone 508-349-1800.

ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Photographed on an English school yard in 1964, 7-year-olds Jackie, Lynn and Susan are participants in the 'Up Series.' Image courtesy First Run Features. — Photographed on an English school yard in 1964, 7-year-olds Jackie, Lynn and Susan are participants in the ‘Up Series.’ Image courtesy First Run Features.

Gray’s Auctioneers to sell rare Köllwitz drawing Jan. 30

Kathe Köllwitz (1867-1945) ‘Abschied’ (Farewell), charcoal on gray-blue laid paper. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

CLEVELAND – Gray’s begins the year with their 64th auction on Jan. 30 featuring fine works of art by Rodin, Picasso and Miró, and a rare Kathe Köllwitz drawing. The sale will begin at 11 a.m. EST. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The large-scale original charcoal drawing by German Expressionist Kathe Köllwitz titled Abschied (Farewell) was discovered by auctioneer Deba Gray to the delight of the consignor who was unaware of its rarity. Gray recognized the work as a study for Köllwitz’s etching Tod, Frau und Kind (Death Woman and Child), circa 1910.

The auction also features a whimsical watercolor by the Catalan artist Joan Miró titled Man, Moon and Tree (Lot 45). This watercolor is a wonderful example of Miró’s oft quoted philosophy “The spectacle of the sky overwhelms me. I’m overwhelmed when I see, in an immense sky, the crescent of the moon, or the sun. There, in my pictures, tiny forms in huge empty spaces. Empty spaces, empty horizons, empty plains – everything which is bare has always greatly impressed me” (from Twentieth-Century Artists on Art, 1958).

Lot 54 is a diminutive yet athletic bronze titled Mouvement de Danse C, from an edition of 12 by Auguste Rodin. It is signed “A. Rodin No. 9©” on the bottom of the sculpture’s left foot. Gray believes this to be a version cast by the Georges Rudier Foundry in 1956. It was purchased from a gallery in London in December 1956 by its current owner.

Gray’s first auction of 2013 features an extraordinarily strong selection of fine works of art. The list continues with Degas’ iconic bronze Le Tub. Cast shortly after 1919, this bronze was examined by Clare Vincent, Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who determined it was an authentic cast made by the Hébrard Foundry. Charles Millard called Le Tub “the most original, not only of his own pieces, but of all 19th century sculptures.” (C.W. Millard, op, cit., page 107).

In May 1942, Martin Fabian published the Historie Naturelle by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, illustrated by Picasso. This auction features La Langouste, a full-sheet artist’s proof on Vidalon wove paper with Ambroise Vollard watermark. It is signed and number II/V in pencil, together with an original cover page.

Other notable works in this well-rounded auction include a stunning life-size marble by William Calder Marshall titled Country Girl, signed and dated 1882 on the base, a muscular bronze by Alfred Boucher titled Le Terrassier signed on the base, and a captivating Hans Erni tempera on paper titled Boy Leaning on Table #75, signed and dated “Erni 53” on the lower left. Lot 41 is a drawing by Marc Chagall, depicting a head in profile that is signed with a personal dedication.

Furniture includes a late 19th/early 20th century English heavily carved walnut buffet. The decorative arts portion of the auction is highlighted by a pair of Louis Comfort Tiffany Favrile glass shades with a gold damascene pattern.

Gray’s Auctioneers and Appraisers conducts live auctions every month and offers complimentary valuations every day.

Condition reports and shipping quotes are provided on request. For more information please contact Serena Harragin at 216-458-7695 or by email at serena@graysauctioneers.com

Online Live bidding for this auction is offered 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

Hans Erni (b. 1909) ‘Boy Leaning on Table #75,’ tempera on paper. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

Joan Miró (1893-1983) ‘Man, Moon and Tree,’ watercolor on paper. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) ‘La Langouste,’ aquatint and drypoint. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) ‘Le Tub,’ bronze. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) ‘Mouvement de Danse C,’ bronze. Gray’s Auctioneers image.

Paintings, jade top Kaminski Asian art lineup Jan. 26

Chinese famille rose vase. Kaminski Auctions image.

BEVERLY, Mass. – On Jan. 26, Kaminski Auctions will offer an array of beautiful Asian antiques and works of art. Including everything from fine bronze, ivory, and jade, to 20th century oil paintings, the 460-lot auction will surely have items of interest for all Asian collectors. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

Among the top lots of the auction are two jade pieces. The first is a Chinese jade brush washer, estimated to sell for between $1,000 and $1,500. A lotus flower forms the main body of the sculpted jade piece, which is further decorated with a pair of bats and a pair of peaches. The 1 1/2-inches by 5 3/4-inches piece rests on a wooden stand carved in the shape of roots. The second jade piece is similarly well sculpted. This white jade has been carefully crafted into the form of a crouching foo lion holding a coin.

In addition to the jade pieces, the auction will also offer a fine collection of 20 ivory and polychrome birds. The birds are Japanese in origin and most bear the signature of their maker. These impressive birds are estimated at $1,200 to $1,800.

A fine bronze Japanese urn of the Meiji period will also be offered for sale estimated at $2,500 to $3,000. The urn is signed on the base of the vessel. The body of the urn features a pair of dragons and a woman playing a musical instrument. Inlaid gold highlights the eyes of both dragons, as well as the surrounding flower petals. On the reverse is a phoenix amid a landscape, topped by an eagle-form cover that completes the urn.

The auction will also present another remarkable signed famille rose vase. Beautifully painted, the vessel is in the characteristic warm color palette, depicting figures in a landscape. This distinctive signed piece is estimated to sell for $2,000- $3,000. There is also a pair of 19th century Chinese famille verte vases, also estimated at $2,000-$3,000. The square baluster-form is decorated with a pair of ribbon-tailed birds and a pair of cranes, while the rest is similarly decorated with birds, flowers and insects, from a New York collector. Also beautifully decorated is a cloisonné Chinese clock from the early 20th century. This intricately enameled metal clock is estimated at $800-$1,200.

Paintings will hold an important place in the sale as well. A 20th century Chinese painting by Gao Yan, oil canvas, portrays a young woman swathed in a white dress. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the work is the inspired knife work with which Gao Yan subtly mottled the ambiguous background. This skillfully rendered painting is titled The White Dew. A Brian Coole work titled Ships in the Hong Kong Harbor, looking toward Macao” is another noteworthy oil painting in the auction. The British painter’s work is estimated to fetch between $4,000 and $6,000.

These featured items will be joined by many other noteworthy pieces, including more famille rose works, fine chests, and ivory in Kaminski Auctions’ Asian Art and Antiques auction on Saturday, Jan. 26, starting at 10 a.m. EST.

Bid online through LiveAuctioneers.com. For more information call 978-927-2223.

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

Brian Coole (b. 1939), ‘Ships in Hong Kong harbor, looking towards Macao,’ oil on board, signed lower right, 19 1/2 inches x 29 3/4 inches. Kaminski Auctions image.

White jade foo lion, China, carved in the form of a mythical lion in a crouching pose holding a coin, 4 inches long. Kaminski Auctions image.

Chinese jade brush washer carved in the form of a lotus flower. Kaminski Auctions image.

Japanese fine bronze urn Meiji Period. Kaminski Auctions image.

Chinese 20th century oil painting by Gao Yan, ‘The White Dew.’ Kaminski Auctions image.

Collection of 20 ivory birds, Japan, polychrome and signed. Kaminski Auctions image.

Jeffrey Evans & Associates to auction rare glassware Jan. 26

Rare Phoenix Glass Co. pitchers from a large collection of Phoenix wares. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.

MOUNT CRAWFORD, Va. – Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates’ Jan. 26 auction of 19th and 20th century glass includes the first installment from a selection of over 4,000 pieces from the late Richard “Dick” and Mary Ann Krauss of Clyde, Ohio. LiveAucitoneers.com will provide Internet live bidding.

The Krauss collection, assembled over several decades, includes includes American art glass rarities by the Mount Washington Glass Co., Imperial Glass Co. and Dalzell, Gilmore & Leighton Co. of Findlay, Ohio.

The Mount Washington Glass Co. introduced its glass in 1878, when company agent Frederick Shirley was granted three patents for the production and design of so-called Sicilian ware. The patent specifically called for lava or volcanic ash to be added to the glass batch as a flux. This glass was produced in small quantities only from 1878-1880. Modern collectors refer to this Sicilian ware as Lava glass. Most examples of Lava ware feature a black ground; however, an extremely rare vase of a rose-color ground is included in this auction.

Additionally, the Krauss collection boasts a collection of Findlay (Ohio) Floradine and Onyx glass in various colors as well as 50 pieces of Amberette/Klondike.

The Krauss collection also includes an outstanding 60-piece collection of the Imperial Glass Co.’s Free Hand and Lead Luster lines of art glass, produced during the 1920s. Imperial employed five Swedish immigrant glassmakers to produce this glass. Imperial’s ads boasted “Why go to Europe, to by your fancy glassware, when a short trip to our factory will enable you to secure a better variety with a smaller investment?” The company was located in Bellaire, Ohio, and flourished during the heyday of the pre-Depression flapper.

The Evans auction also includes a few great examples of Phoenix glass from the Priscilla McBride collection. McBride lives in New York State and had assembled a collection of rare Phoenix pitchers.

A group of European and American art glass from a variety of consignors includes two rare examples of Loetz Federzeichung “Octupus” glass. This type of glassware typically includes large, organic flowing pearly white satin-textured lines in abstract patterns on a background of opaline soft reds, oranges; browns or burnt-yellows with gilt vermicelli highlights.

The sale rounds out with collections of Victorian opalescent glass; celery vases of all types; early American pattern glass; children’s toy glass; American cut glass and studio glass.

The auction starts at 9:30 a.m. EST Jan. 26 and goes until each lot has been sold.

For further information about this auction, call 540-434-3939. Internet live bidding will be provided by LiveAuctioneers.

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

From a collection of Mount Washington Lava/Sicilian art glass. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.

Fine Loetz Federzeichung ‘Octopus’ ewer and vase. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.

From a fine selection of Findlay Floradine and Onyx in various colors. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.

From an extensive collection of Imperial Free Hand and Lead Luster art glass. Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates image.

NJ collector pays $1.2M for Metropolis poster group in court auction

1927 German movie poster for Fritz Lang’s sci-fi classic ‘Metropolis.’ Purchased by Ralph DeLuca as part of a 9-piece group lot for $1.2 million. Image: RalphDeLuca.com

LOS ANGELES – A courtroom is probably not the first place one thinks of when searching for rare movie posters, but that’s where New Jersey collector Ralph DeLuca made the score of a lifetime – a 1927 German poster advertising Fritz Lang’s sci-fi classic Metropolis.

DeLuca, a collector who owns the film memorabilia website RalphDeLuca.com, outbid three other formidable competitors in an auction held Dec. 13, 2012 in the US Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles. DeLuca said he was “thrilled” to hand over $1.2 million to acquire one of only four known examples of the iconic Metropolis three-sheet. Two of those four are held in institutional collections, while the other two [including DeLuca’s] are privately owned.

“For a poster I really want, I’ll pay serious cash. I always put my money where my mouth is,” DeLuca said.

Bidding opened at $740,000, upping the $700,000 private cash offer DeLuca had tendered previously to the Bankruptcy Court. Some of the movie-poster world’s top players were present to chase the cinematic treasure. They included an agent for Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Bruce Marchant of London-based Reel Poster Gallery, who represented UK collector Andrew Cohen; and a rep from the California auction house Profiles in History, who was there to bid on behalf of Steve Fishler, owner of Metropolis Comics, New York City.

“If anything surprised me, it was that Heritage was not my main competitor. I expected to have to fight them tooth and nail, but they were out of the running – as was Steve Fishler’s representative – before the bidding even reached $900,000. At that point, it was down to Andrew Cohen’s rep and myself,” DeLuca said.

Marchant and DeLuca competed in $20,000 increments beyond the $840,000 mark until Marchant called it quits at $1.18 million. DeLuca’s trumping bid of $1.2 million went unchallenged, and the hammer fell to end the auction. DeLuca was declared the winner of a group lot containing the Metropolis poster and eight other items that included a valuable 1933 poster for the film King Kong, a one-sheet teaser for The Invisible Man, the original artwork for Jailhouse Rock, and a Charles Addams drawing of the Addams Family, amongst other collectibles.

The courtroom auction wrapped a significant chapter in the bankruptcy of collector Kenneth Schacter of Valencia, California. According to a Dec. 13, 2012 Reuters report, Schacter purchased the Metropolis poster seven years ago for $690,000, using funds he borrowed from an investor with whom he was to share profits once the poster was resold. When Schacter retained the poster in his own collection and did not resell it, Mannheim filed suit and was awarded a judgment against Schacter.

Schacter did not pay the judgment, but he did file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December of 2011 to reorganize his debts. His course of action was derailed when Mannheim learned in March 2012, through an item appearing in The Hollywood Reporter, that the Metropolis poster was being offered for sale for $850,000 through a movie poster website. Consequently, Mannheim asked the Bankruptcy Court to convert Schacter’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, stating he believed Schacter was concealing assets. The Court sided with Mannheim and re-categorized the bankruptcy as a Chapter 7, thereby forcing Schacter to liquidate his assets. Shortly thereafter, Bankruptcy Trustee John J. Menchaca stepped in to take possession of the Metropolis poster and other items.

When Ralph DeLuca learned of the seizure, he hired a Los Angeles bankruptcy attorney to investigate his options as a potential purchaser. DeLuca’s attorney informed him that it would be possible to present an offer to the trustee.

“Ordinarily in an arrangement of that type, a person making an offer puts up 25 percent and shows proof of funds for the remaining 75 percent. I immediately put up the full $700,000 I was offering, in the form of a cashier’s check. The trustee felt it was a good deal.”

Ultimately, Trustee Menchaca decided to liquidate the posters through a courtroom auction, with DeLuca’s privately tendered bid serving as the opener.

While reselling the Metropolis poster is an option, DeLuca said he is not in a hurry to part with his most valuable artwork.

“Eventually if I get the right price for it, I’ll sell it, and when I do, it will be for a world-record price,” he said.

Online: www.RalphDeLuca.com

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Imax to convert Smithsonian theaters to laser projection

IMAX Theater at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Image by DavidDDean. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Imax Corp. is beginning an initiative to transition museum-based theaters to new laser digital projection, beginning with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Imax announced plans Tuesday to upgrade the Smithsonian’s three theaters in 2014. New technology uses lasers instead of light bulbs to light giant movie screens.

Imax CEO Richard Gelfond says the company invested $50 million to develop laser projection. He says Imax’s roots are in museums, and it aims to keep that business as film becomes obsolete. Digital projection allows museums to show more Hollywood movies.

The new system includes technology that Imax licensed from Eastman Kodak Co. in 2011 to improve digital images on the largest screens.

Long associated with educational films, Ontario-based Imax also is announcing plans to produce four new documentaries with MacGillivray Freeman Films.

AP-WF-01-15-13 1440GMT

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Rare posters go on sale this weekend at Guernsey’s

‘Compagnie Française des Chocolats,’ Théophile Alexandre Steinlen. Guernsey’s image.

NEW YORK (AFP) – A trove of about 4,300 rare vintage advertising posters that were seized and feared to have been destroyed by the Nazis in 1938 will go to auction in New York on Friday. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding

The collection, which originally belonged to Hans Sachs, a Jewish dentist in Berlin, has been recovered by his son Peter and will be sold at Guernsey’s.

The artists behind the depictions of everything from art to opera, propaganda and sports, include Alphonse Mucha, Jules Cheret, Gustav Klimt, Toulouse-Lautrec, Kathe Kollwitz, Max Slevogt and Max Klinger.

The original Sachs collection numbered up to 12,500 posters. The family received compensation from the German government in 1961 for about the equivalent of 500,000 euros.

However, Peter Sachs discovered that a third of the posters were actually at the German Historical Museum in Berlin. After a legal battle, the Sachs family was given ownership.

“The collection dates back to the early 19th century and is estimated to be worth (between) $5.75 and $20.44 million,” said Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey’s auction house.

The auction will run through the weekend.

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.

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Biblical King Herod stirs controversy once again

Aerial view of Herodion, near Bethlehem in the West Bank. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Asaf T., at the Hebrew Wikipedia project.

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel’s national museum said Tuesday it will open what it calls the world’s first exhibition devoted to the architectural legacy of biblical King Herod, the Jewish proxy monarch who ruled Jerusalem and the Holy Land under Roman occupation two millennia ago.

The display includes the reconstructed tomb and sarcophagus of one of antiquity’s most notable and despised figures, curators say.

Modern day politics are intruding into this ancient find. Palestinians object to the showing of artifacts found in the West Bank. The Israeli museum insists it will return the finds once the exhibit closes.

About 30 tons of artifacts – including hundreds of tiny shattered shards pieced back together – are going on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in a nine-month exhibition opening Feb. 12.

Museum director James Snyder said the exhibit, “Herod the Great,” is the museum’s largest and most expensive archaeological project to date.

“It’s a name that’s always on everyone’s lips,” Snyder said, “And yet there has never been an exhibit devoted to his material.”

Herod was vilified in the New Testament as a bloodthirsty tyrant who massacred Bethlehem’s male children to try to prevent the prophesied birth of Jesus. He is also said to have murdered his wife and sons.

Herod was also revered for his ambitious building projects, including his lavish desert palaces and an expansion of the Second Jewish Temple complex in Jerusalem. The Western Wall, today the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray, was a retaining wall for the compound.

Herod’s final grandiose project was to prepare for death. Curators believe Herod constructed an extravagant, 80-foot-high tomb. Israeli archaeologist Ehud Netzer spent 35 years of his career searching for it.

In 2007, Netzer drew international attention when he announced he had found what he believed was the tomb at the Herodion, the ruler’s winter palace, located on a cone-like hill that still today juts out prominently in the barren landscape of the Judean Desert, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

In 2008, the archaeologist approached the Israel Museum about creating an exhibit that would display artifacts from one of the greatest finds of his career. While surveying the Herodion site with museum staff, Netzer fell to his death. Museum staff pushed forward with planning the exhibit.

In 2011, the museum used a crane to remove dozens of half-ton columns and the roof of what Netzer identified as the top floor of Herod’s tomb, which he thought held his sarcophagus. Each stone was affixed with an electronic chip so it could be more easily be put back together at the Israel Museum.

Three sarcophagi were found at the site, and curators believe one was Herod’s. Though it bears no inscription, it is made of a special reddish stone, found smashed into hundreds of pieces. The Jewish zealots who took over the Herodion after Herod’s death likely smashed the sarcophagus to pieces, destroying the symbol of a man who worked with the empire they were rebelling against, curators said.

“It’s not 100 percent. But archaeology is never about 100 percent,” said co-curator Dudi Mevorah. “The circumstantial evidence points to one man.” The sarcophagus will also be on display.

Archaeologist Joe Zias, who did not participate in the excavation or the exhibition, said he believes the tomb was likely that of Herod.

“It’s a monumental tomb out in the middle of nowhere in a place he built for himself,” Zias said. “It’s as authentic as one could ask for.”

The museum exhibit also features a reconstructed throne room from one of Herod’s palaces in Jericho, and a full-sized replica of Herod’s theater viewing room at the Herodion, incorporating detailed fresco wall paintings and other decorative elements that museum staff collected on site.

There are still pieces of the puzzle left to assemble. At the museum’s lab Tuesday, workers were still rushing to fit together all the small stucco wall lining pieces found to display in the exhibit. One fresco wall painting, found in tiny fragments, has taken 2 1/2 years to reassemble.

Other items include the paint jars used for Herod’s frescos and plump jugs of wine imported from south Italy labeled in Latin characters, “Herod King of Judea.”

The museum’s exhibit is almost entirely made up of finds from the West Bank – a point of contention with the Palestinians.

Hamdan Taha, the assistant deputy minister in charge of antiquities in the Palestinian Authority, said the excavation and exhibit were not coordinated with Palestinian officials.

“The excavation is another example of utilization of archaeology and history for ideological purposes … which will not serve to establish comprehensive peace between the two peoples, the Palestinian and Israeli peoples,” Taha said.

Taha said excavating archaeological objects from the West Bank without Palestinian permission is in violation of an international convention that governs antiquities in occupied territories.

Museum director James Snyder said he had not received complaints from the Palestinian Authority. He said Israel is responsible for custodianship of archaeology in the West Bank, and that the museum would, in compliance with international law, return the Herodion artifacts to their original site when the exhibit closes.

“It’s important we take that responsibility seriously,” Snyder said.

___

Follow Daniel Estrin: www.twitter.com/danielestrin

AP-WF-01-15-13 2027GMT

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Imperial Auctioneers presents long-held Asian art Jan. 24

Chinese scroll painting attributed to Qian Weicheng (1720-1772). Ink and color on silk, inscribed and signed by artist with one seal. Painting size 30 x 18 in. Est. $10,000-$20,000. Imperial Auctioneers image.

CHICAGO – Imperial Auctioneers will host a fine Asian art auction on Thursday, Jan. 24, featuring many items that have been in private collections for more than a half century. The auction will start at 7 p.m. CST. Liveauctioneers.com will provide the live Internet bidding.

Property in the auction comes from several sources including the family of a gentleman and scholar of Asian art, who acquired the collection in the early to mid-20th century in China. Additional items are from a prominent Canadian philanthropist and from a distinguished collector and scholar of Southeast Asian art, who acquired them in Southeast Asia in the 1970s. There will also be items from private collections from Chicago, San Francisco and Ontario, Canada.

“We are very pleased with the offering in the auction,” said Mr. Hao Ji, the director of Asian Art for Imperial Auctioneers. “There is a broad selection of quality items with good provenance that have been off the market for a number of years.”

Topping the list is a monumental cloisonné enamel charger circa 1900 (estimate: $10,000-$20,000). Measuring 30 inches in diameter with a beautiful mille-fleur design, this striking presentation piece is an example of the high level of cloisonné craftsmanship in Japan during the Meiji period. It is the property of a man who received it as a gift from a government delegate in the 1970s.

Another rare item is a porcelain vase that depicts birds and flowers with an en verso lithophane of Chairman Mao Zedong. The 15-inch vase bears calligraphy on the back and is imprinted with the national emblem of the People’s Republic of China on the inside. Marked and dated, Jiangxi Company of Ceramic Industry, 1962, it carries an estimate of $10,000-$12,000. Vases of this type were made by order of the Chinese government and presented as gifts to dignitaries, however, examples of this quality are quite rare. It is the property of a man who received it as a gift directly from the Chinese consulate in the 1970s.

A fine piece purchased in Hong Kong in the 1980s is a 13-inch ruyi scepter made in the 18th/19th century. Exquisitely carved in high relief, the wooden scepter depicts scholars and attendants amid pine, bamboo and plum: “The Three Friends of Winter” (estimate: $4,000-$6,000).

A fine painting on silk is attributed to Qian Weicheng (1720-1772). A painter during the reign of Qianlong, Weicheng is known for his landscape paintings as well as calligraphy. This painting, 30 inches by 18 inches, is estimated at $10,000-$20,000.

Fine older paintings in the auction are from the collection of a scholar of Asian art. Purchased in China in the early to mid-20th century, the paintings have been in the possession of the family for over 50 years. From this same family collection are a couple of rare Zhou Dynasty “Warring States” bronze vessels. Well cast and elaborately decorated both items are fine examples of the bronze work from this period.

Three paintings by Lian Xue Ming (b. 1969) are in the auction. With an excellent artistic sense and great technical skill Lian Xue Ming is an important talent and an artist to watch in the current crop of fine contemporary Chinese painters, said the auctioneers.

A rare and large amber scholar’s rock standing 8 inches tall and weighing more than 650 grams is estimated at $5,000-$10,000. It displays hues of golden yellow to darker brown natural colors with excellent translucency.

A collection of fine bronze Buddhas, acquired in Southeast Asia in the 1970s by a scholar of Southeast Asian art, will be in the auction. This collection features three Thai Buddhas in the “Touching the Earth” mudra, all over 24 inches in height and ranging from the 16th century onwards; a rare pair of Sino-Tibetan bronze oil lamps, 18th century; and a large (33 inches) 19th century parcel-gilt bronze Kuan Yin.

Another highlight is a fine and interesting selection of jade bangles including two jade bangles from the 18th/19th century of even, white colored stone, finely polished and carved in the form of two facing dragons with a pearl at the center (estimate: $3,000-$5,000); a couple of rare 19th century rhinoceros horn bangles (estimate: $1,500-$2,500); a finely carved jade bangle with a translucent white and blue tone (estimate $1,000-$2,000); a Ming Dynasty celadon jade bangle (estimate: $700-$1,000); and a green hardstone bangle, Han Dynasty or later (estimate: $500-$800).

Rounding out the auction will be a number of jade pieces, scholar items, ivory statues, rhino horn cups and porcelain.

Based in Chicago, Imperial Auctioneers is dedicated to the research, acquisition and sale of Chinese paintings and Chinese fine arts. The company was founded on the promise of high-quality expertise. Specialists Hao Ji and Aaron Liu are well-respected experts in the field of Asian Art. They are sought after as consultants and lecturers for private and institutional clients. With a focus on Asian Art, coupled with a serious scholarly interest in the subject and exacting professional standards, Imperial Auctioneers pledges a level of service and expertise beyond what is usually found in traditional auction houses.

For more information phone 866-886-7912 or email: Inquiries@imperialauctioneers.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet by logging on to www.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

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