Nicolas Cordier’s statue of King David in the Borghese Chapel of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Photo by Jastrow.
JERUSALEM (AP) – A team of Israeli archaeologists believes it has discovered the ruins of a palace belonging to the biblical King David, but other Israeli experts dispute the claim.
Archaeologists from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel’s Antiquities Authority said their find, a large fortified complex west of Jerusalem at a site called Khirbet Qeiyafa, is the first palace of the biblical king ever to be discovered.
“Khirbet Qeiyafa is the best example exposed to date of a fortified city from the time of King David,” said Yossi Garfinkel, a Hebrew University archaeologist, suggesting that David himself would have used the site. Garfinkel led the seven-year dig with Saar Ganor of Israel’s Antiquities Authority.
Garfinkel said his team found cultic objects typically used by Judeans, the subjects of King David, and saw no trace of pig remains. Pork is forbidden under Jewish dietary laws. Clues like these, he said, were “unequivocal evidence” that David and his descendants had ruled at the site.
Critics said the site could have belonged to other kingdoms of the area. The consensus among most scholars is that no definitive physical proof of the existence of King David has been found.
Biblical archaeology itself is contentious. Israelis often use archaeological findings to back up their historic claims to sites that are also claimed by the Palestinians, like the Old City of Jerusalem. Despite extensive archaeological evidence, for example, Palestinians deny that the biblical Jewish Temples dominated the hilltop where the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third-holiest site, stands today.
In general, researchers are divided over whether biblical stories can be validated by physical remains.
The current excavators are not the first to claim they found a King David palace. In 2005, Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar said she found the remains of King David’s palace in Jerusalem dating to the 10th century B.C., when King David would have ruled. Her claim also attracted skepticism, including from Garfinkel himself.
Using carbon dating, the archaeologists traced the site’s construction to that same period. Garfinkel said the team also found a storeroom almost 15 meters (50 feet) long, suggesting it was a royal site used to collect taxes from the rest of the kingdom.
Garfinkel believes King David lived permanently in Jerusalem in a yet-undiscovered site, only visiting Khirbet Qeiyafa or other palaces for short periods. He said the site’s placement on a hill indicates that the ruler sought a secure site on high ground during a violent era of frequent conflicts between city-states.
“The time of David was the first time that a large portion of this area was united by one monarch,” Garfinkel said. “It was not a peaceful era.”
Archaeologist Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University agreed that Khirbet Qeiyafa is an “elaborate” and “well-fortified” 10th century B.C. site, but said it could have been built by Philistines, Canaanites or other peoples in the area.
He said there was no way to verify who built the site without finding a monument detailing the accomplishments of the king who built it. Last week, for instance, archaeologists in Israel found pieces of a sphinx bearing the name of the Egyptian pharaoh who reigned when the statue was carved.
Garfinkel insisted that critics like Finkelstein are relying on outdated theories.
“I think other people have a collapsed theory and we have fresh data,” he said.
2013 Hampton Designer Showhouse in Bridgehampton, New York. Image courtesy of Revel Inspired.
BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y. – The 2013 Hampton Designer Showhouse in Bridgehampton, New York, has opened its stylish doors and will run until Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 2013. Proceeds will benefit Southampton Hospital, Southampton, New York.
The showhouse committee announced that Traditional Home magazine is the 2013 presenting sponsor and LX.TV Open House is the 2013 television sponsor. Mario Buatta is the honorary showhouse chairman. Jamie Drake and Alexa Hampton are the honorary design co-chairmen. An Aug. 26 online auction of designer items from the showhouse will take place through LiveAuctioneers.com. Additional items are being added to the catalog every day through Aug. 1, so bidders are encouraged to check the catalog on a daily basis.
The Hampton Designer Showhouse, now in its thirteenth year, is a showcase for America’s premier design talent. Thirty interior designers and decorative artists will turn a lavish shingle-style home into a decorating masterpiece. This year’s showhouse located at 990 Brick Kiln Road in Bridgehampton, New York, has been generously provided by the exclusive firm of Bodenchak Design and Build (www.bodenchak.com).
“What could be more inspiring than the Hamptons at the height of the summer season?” said Ann Maine, editor-in-chief of Traditional Home magazine. “We’re delighted to once again serve as the national media sponsor of The Hampton Designer Showhouse. This incredible project is not only a premier showcase for innovative design ideas from some of the top talent in the industry—but more importantly—raises critical funds to support Southampton Hospital.”
The Hampton Designer Showhouse will be open to the public now through Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 2013. Showhouse hours will be as follows: Monday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Children under six, infants, strollers and pets are not allowed in the Showhouse. Admission to the Showhouse is $35 and includes the Showhouse Journal.
About Hampton Designer Showhouse:
The Hampton Designer Showhouse is produced by Hampton Designer Showhouse Foundation, Inc. (HDSF, Inc.). HDSF, Inc. is led and operated by a dynamic team of experts from the worlds of marketing, public relations, fundraising and special events production. They have combined their talents to produce what is now recognized as one of the country’s most successful showhouses. Hampton Designer Showhouse Foundation Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) corporation.
About Traditional Home Magazine:
As the largest upscale shelter magazine in America, Traditional Home celebrates the union of timeless design with modern living, inspiring 5 million design lovers to reinterpret classic elegance in a thoroughly personal way. From home, garden, and green living to food, entertaining, and travel, the magazine is a tribute to quality, craftsmanship, authenticity, and family—a trusted resource that respects the past, lives in the present, and embraces products designed for the future. For more information, please visit www.traditionalhome.com. For more information regarding the magazine’s exciting online companion, TRADhome, please visit www.tradhomemag.com.
About Southampton Hospital:
Since its establishment in 1909, Southampton Hospital has remained faithful to the vision of its founders in its dedication to providing the very best medical care to the East End community. An affiliate of Stony Brook Medicine and a member of East End Health Alliance, the nonprofit Hospital is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and offers a full continuum of ambulatory and inpatient services ranging from primary medical care to specialized surgical procedures. The only major medical facility on eastern Long Island’s South Fork, the Hospital offers primary, emergency and specialty healthcare, extended service hours and community outreach programs to Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island towns. For more information, please visit www.southamptonhospital.org.
For more information on the 2013 Hampton Designer Showhouse and to purchase tickets, please visit www.hamptondesignershowhouse.com.
Pictorial dust jacket from William Faulkner’s 1959 novel ‘The Mansion.’ Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and PBA Galleries.
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – The 40th annual Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference will look at the black literature of the western hemisphere and the relationship between it and author William Faulkner.
The conference opened yesterday in Oxford.
Jay Watson, director of the annual Faulkner conference, tells the Oxford Eagle that the conference will examine Faulkner’s impact on the many black artists who have encountered and responded to his work since his death in 1962.
Keynote lectures and panel sessions are free and open to the public.
Around 150 to 200 people are expected to attend this year’s conference. The conference runs through Thursday.
Throughout the conference, the University library will display Faulkner books, manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia.
This unusual solid gold pin looks like a miner’s pick ax stuck on a gold nugget. It sold for $1,600 at a Leslie Hindman auction in Chicago.
BEACHWOOD, Ohio – Jewelry has been worn for centuries as “totems,” religious or good luck pieces, or just to add beauty and color to an outfit. Brooches, often called “pins,” were made in many sizes and shapes. At first they were made of gold and precious stones to show the wearer’s wealth, but by the 17th century, imitation jewelry made of glass, faux pearls and gold-colored metal made it possible for the not-so-rich to own a pin. Designers made jewelry in the fashion of the day, from Victorian cameos to Art Nouveau enameled women in flowing gowns.
Often women chose a pin that represented something in her life. Madeline Albright, the former U.S. Secretary of State (1996-2001), became known for her pins. She wore an eagle for patriotic meetings, a snake when she distrusted her visitor, a bee-shaped pin when angry and zebras when she met with South Africans. Many pins have been designed to express a personal thought: a typewriter for a writer, an apple for a schoolteacher, a ballet dancer for a performer. Designers made solid gold tigers with diamonds or copies with rhinestones.
Did a prospector for gold or the owner of a gold mine order a pin sold recently that looked like a small pickax with a real gold nugget? It is made of rose gold and has added engraved designs. It was owned by someone in Colorado who sent it to Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago to be sold. An Australian bid and got it for $1,600.
Q: I have an old table brought here from Germany years ago. There is a mark on the bottom that says “Kiel Furniture Co.” Can you tell me anything about the maker?
A: Stories about things handed down in a family don’t always turn out to be true. Your table didn’t come from Germany; it was made in Wisconsin. Kiel Manufacturing Co. was founded in Milwaukee in 1892. There were many German cabinetmakers in the area and an ample supply of lumber from Wisconsin forests. The name of the company was changed to Kiel Furniture Co. in 1907, so your table was made after the name change. The company also operated a factory in Milwaukee from 1910 to 1932. The name of the company became A.A. Laun Furniture Co. in 1932. It is still in business.
Q: I acquired a kerosene lamp in Utah last year. It seems to be brass and has a metal plate with the words, “Property of Pony Express Station No. 9.” What can you tell me about it?
A: The metal plate on your lamp is probably a fake. Many fake and fantasy maker or owner tags are showing up on oil lamps, lanterns and locks to suggest a connection that makes them more attractive to collectors. The oil lamps and other items themselves also are probably fakes or reproductions from India or China. The most common of these fake tags are small, brass rectangular plates with simple, nondescript lettering. The plates advertise real or fictitious companies—railroads, delivery companies and even prisons—that are desirable to collectors interested in Wild West memorabilia or railroadiana. Pony Express and Wells Fargo are two of the most often referenced. The items may be nice collectibles, just don’t expect them to be real.
Q: I have a toy gun that looks like a cap pistol but is molded from solid metal. It has no moving parts. It weighs 3 1/2 pounds and has the word “Stallion” stamped on each side. I would like to know what it was made for since I don’t think a child would play with it.
A: Cap guns were popular toys in the 1950s and ’60s during the heyday of TV and movie Westerns. Nichols Industries was founded by Talley and Lewis Nichols in Pasadena, Tex., in 1946 and became one of the largest manufacturers of cap guns in the world. The company made a series of “Stallion” cap guns in various sizes with different model numbers from 1950 to 1961. The first one, the Stallion 45, was the “Toy of the Year” in 1950. They were made to look like the Colt 45 Peacemaker and had a revolving cylinder. Smoke came out of the barrel when the “bullets” were fired. Since your gun is relatively heavy and doesn’t have moving parts or shoot caps, it may have been a reproduction piece made as a paperweight or display item. Nichols Industries moved to Jacksonville, Tex., in 1954. It was sold to Kusan in 1965 and became Nichols Kusan. The company continued to make many of the Nichols cap gun models.
Q: I have an old safe. It’s 47 inches high by 32 inches wide by 27 inches deep and stands 8 inches off the floor on wheels. The door, which has a combination lock, reads “Barnes Safe & Lock Co., Greensburg, Pa.” There is a gold band painted on the door edge and decorations in the corners. The safe has an inner door with key lock and interior compartments. When was this safe made? Value?
A: In 1845 Thomas Barnes, a blacksmith, and his brother-in-law, Edmund Burke, a locksmith, established the Burke & Barnes Safe Manufacturers Co. in Pittsburgh. The company made iron cellar doors, grillwork and strong boxes. After the great Pittsburgh fire of 1845, Burke & Barnes experimented with designs for a fireproof safe. Soon after the Civil War, Barnes perfected a seven-flange door safe, which became world famous as the best protection against fire ever invented. Burke retired in the early 1870s and the company name was changed to Barnes Safe & Lock Co. In 1914 the company built a main shop, a filing room and a carpenter’s shop in Greensburg, Pa. It made safes, bank deposit boxes and fireproof chests until the 1920s. Your safe was made between 1914 and the early 1920s. Barnes safes have sold for $300 up to about $500. The value depends on condition.
Tip: Wicker can be vacuumed carefully or dusted. Then mix soap—not detergent—and water to make suds and wipe the chair with the suds to clean it. If you find any breaks unraveling, try to have the wicker fixed immediately to avoid future damage.
Terry Kovel answers as many questions as possible through the column. By sending a letter with a question, you give full permission for use in the column or any other Kovel forum. Names, addresses or email addresses will not be published. We cannot guarantee the return of any photograph, but if a stamped envelope is included, we will try. The volume of mail makes personal answers or appraisals impossible. Write to Kovels, Auction Central News, King Features Syndicate, 300 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019.
CURRENT PRICES
Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.
Red Wing vase, impressed flowers, mint green, cylinder, marked, 7 3/4 inches, $15. 1939 World’s Fair pocketknife and bottle opener, New York, faux mother-of-pearl handle, Syracuse Knife Co., $20.
Parlor table, white marble, turtle top, c. 1865, 30 x 41 x 30 inches, $1,350
Ralph and Terry Kovel, syndicated newspaper columnists, best-selling authors, avid collectors and national authorities on antiques, hosted the HGTV series Flea Market Finds with the Kovels. Enjoy the shows all over again and explore some of the most exciting flea markets in the United States. In each episode, Ralph and Terry share their secrets about when and where to shop, what to look for at shops and flea markets and how to make a good buy. These DVDs include the first season of the series. You’ll see rare marbles, antique quilts, European chests and boxes, Satsuma pottery, ceramic tobacco jars, Bakelite jewelry, vintage plastic dime-store toys, Czechoslovakian glass, Big Little Books, can labels and seed packets, old prints and more. Available online at Kovelsonlinestore.com; by phone at 800-303-1996; or send $29.95 plus $4.95 postage to Kovels, Box 22900, Beachwood, OH 44122.
