January 17, 2001

Re: Auction Houses Sweeten Deal

I can't help but wonder if the lawyers representing Soyheby's and Christies are going to
accept coupons as payment since they feel they are worth the same as cash?

R.J.Viola
La Jolla,CA

Truck smashes historic Seattle landmark

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- The historic iron and glass pergola at Seattle's Pioneer Square, a national historic landmark and one of the city's most famous meeting spots, was knocked over by a truck and smashed into pieces early Monday. The rear of a truck clipped a corner of the 91- year-old structure at about 5:45 a.m. and pulled the whole thing down, police spokesman Sean O'Donnell said. No injuries were reported.
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Museum 'deceived' over portico stone

BY DALYA ALBERGE, ARTS CORRESPONDENT

THE British Museum was deceived by the masonry company that supplied the wrong stone for its Ł100 million Great Court development, but should have acted sooner to make adequate checks, according to an investigation published today. The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), commissioned by the trustees last November, has already been dismissed by one conservationist as a whitewash. It did not find evidence to support "assertions from outside the museum" that there may have been a cover-up or a deliberate attempt by the museum to conceal information. But it criticises the museum's board for waiting weeks before addressing the possibility that the wrong stone had been supplied for the south portico of the historic Round Reading Room. Portland stone, which would have matched the original, was costed on the museum's application for National Lottery money as it is harder wearing than Anstrude, the French limestone supplied. PwC concluded that the museum should have consulted Foster and Partners, the architects of the scheme, "more quickly", while noting that it took three weeks for the results of tests to find the source of the stone to become available. Graham Greene, chairman of the museum's trustees, said lessons would be learnt. He dismissed calls for his resignation from Sir Jocelyn Stevens, who, before retiring as chairman of English Heritage, attacked the workmanship. Mr Greene said: "We think this is an extremely successful project that has been widely acclaimed. This is not a matter for any resignations. The British Museum regrets that its project team was unable to prevent deception by a contractor and we accept responsibility for our part in any disappointment that has been caused." PwC concluded: "The museum was deceived by Easton Masonry . . . the museum was let down by its professional advisers' procedures which did not detect Easton Masonry's use of the Anstrude stone." Mr Greene said that he accepted the criticisms and confirmed that the museum was taking advice on legal action. No one from Easton Mansobry, of Portland, Dorset, was available for comment. Tony Tugnutt, a conservationist, called the report a whitewash. He said: "I am disappointed that it is not more critical. It doesn't say anything we didn't know already. You wouldn't believe public money was used to carry out this work."
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/

Faking keepsakes from a tragic time

Holocaust artifacts compete with counterfeits

By Margaret Mannix

Lisa Moellering knew too well the faded yellow Star of David and the dingy ghetto armbands that made their way to her office recently. Such chilling reminders of the Nazi genocide of the Jews are her sad stock in trade as an archivist at the Holocaust Museum Houston. Moellering knew the four World War II-era artifacts-purchased by a benefactor at a flea market-would be welcome additions to the museum's growing collection. Except for one thing: They were all fakes. As the Holocaust recedes in time and its survivors die off, there has been a surge of interest in its memorabilia. The collectors are largely Jews who treasure these frayed badges, tattered uniforms, and ratty armbands as keepsakes for their own families or as gifts to the numerous Holocaust museums that have opened their doors in recent years. "Pretty soon the actors in that horrible play will be gone," says Aaron Breitbart, senior researcher at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "All we will have is what they left behind." But what is left behind is becoming harder to authenticate. As often happens with collectibles, the growing value of Holocaust artifacts has been accompanied by a corresponding number of counterfeits, from the $50 "Jude" (the word for Jew in German) stars hawked at flea markets to $500 armbands auctioned over the eBay Web site. With so much ersatz Holocaust material for sale, museums are on red alert to protect the integrity of their growing collections.
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Nazi items are withdrawn from DuMouchelles' auction

By Joy Hakanson Colby / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- Don't look for catalogue items 1492 and 1493 to go on the auction block Saturday at Du-Mouchelles Art Galleries. A scarlet Nazi party flag circa 1940 and a cotton arm band marked with a swastika have been withdrawn from the sale, according to Lawrence F. DuMouchelle, president of the 70-year-old auction house in downtown Detroit. "We had five or six objections since the January catalogue came out," he says. "We don't want to offend anyone." "I appreciate his response," says Fran Gross, spokeswoman for the Michigan Anti-Defamation League. "Nazi material is distasteful to most Jewish people. However, trying to stop collectors of historical paraphernalia would deny history, and that would deny the Holocaust ever happened." The Nazi material came to the galleries as part of a World War II service man's estate. "We didn't seek it out," DuMouchelle says. "Our business is built around furniture, paintings, decorative arts." The Nazi flag (estimated to bring $200-$300) and the arm band ($50-$100) were listed on the same catalogue page as other collectibles. "We don't run into Nazi material often," DuMouchelle says. "The last time we offered a couple items was 10 or 15 years ago." DuMouchelle says future such offerings are highly unlikely.
http://detnews.com/