Page 8 - sept_2022

WORLD MARKETPLACE NEWS with Managing Editor Judy Gonyeau

DT NEXT – Three antique ARTDAILY – A King Henry VIII signed document discussing spon-
idols were stolen without a trace soring the feast day of St. George sold for $66,435 on an estimate of
50 years ago from the Venugopala $30,000 according to Boston-based RR Auction. The one-page
Swamy Temple in Tamil Nadu, vellum manuscript signed "Henry R," is dated July 26, 1536.
India. Because the Temple had The document by which King
no photographs, searching for Henry VIII orders the treasurer
the lost idols was next to impos- and chamberlain to pay
sible. Luckily, an investigator Edmund Peckham, accountant
reached out to the French Institute of Puducherry, a French research of the Royal House, the sum of
center in Puducherry, India, and as luck would have it, was able to nineteen pounds and thirteen
obtain images of the lost objects. Thanks to having detailed images, shillings to cover the expenses
sleuths looked for idols resembling the images on the websites of of the feast held on the
various museums worldwide. After a long search, the team found the occasion of the solemnity of
idols displayed in the galleries of the Los Angeles County Museum St. George, patron saint of
of Art. “Based on the findings of our investigation, we have prepared England.
and submitted papers proving our ownership of the idols to the govern-
ment for onward transmission to the USA for repatriation of the same
to Tamil Nadu,” the officer noted. ARTANDOBJECT.COM – Though the Benin Bronzes of Nigeria—
a collection of a thousand plus statues and plaques stolen from the
African Kingdom of Benin by British troops in 1897—remain
NJ.COM – Guest Columnist Marie Naples Maber was vacationing scattered across the world, serious discussions of their provenance and
in Cape May when she entered an antique shop in the area, restitution have occupied headlines for more than one year. Most
whereupon she found herself face to face with what she recently, the London-based
knew was a very old crusted-over object that did not fit Horniman Museum & Gardens
with the other objects on display. It carried a $125 price tag announced in an August 8, 2022
and no other information. “With its layering of mottled press release that ownership of
green over bronze with flecks of gold in between, it felt their seventy-two stolen cultural
authentic,” said Maber. The clerk working there stated artifacts will be formally trans-
that the vendors don’t supply information on the goods they ferred to the Nigerian govern-
had in the shop for sale. The more Maber looked at it, the ment. The Horniman was sure to
more she knew she had seen something like it at the Met. clarify at the end of their release
Upon conferring with a colleague who had worked at the that, amid impending discussions
Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University with Nigeria’s National
of Oxford, she learned it was an Etruscan caryatid mirror Commission for Museums and
from about the 6th centure BCE. “I had to buy it. Otherwise, Monuments on “the process for the formal transfer of ownership,”
I’d never forgive myself for leaving it in the harbor shop where they remain interested in, “the possibility of retaining some objects
it could end up on someone’s coffee table as a paperweight.” on loan for display, research and education.” As Governor Obaseki
said in a 2021 press release, “Yes, the objects are from Benin but
today they are global. So, the idea of having a universal display is
BLEEDINGCOOL.COM – Disney has been slowly dishing out some something that we cannot run away from.”
pretty incredible Designer Collection Ultimate Princess Celebration
dolls. These dolls are designed by artists for the Walt Disney
Company. Each doll had a lot of heart SPORTTECHIE.COM – The National Baseball Hall
put into them by the creator from a of Fame and Museum has entered the digital col-
Disney memory that helped fuel and lectible world. Candy Digital is the official licensee of
inspire this version of the Princess. digital collectibles called the “Baseball Legends Series.”
This Cinderella 12” Limited Edition The first iteration of the Baseball Legends Series is
Doll created by Daria Vinogradova, the 2022 Hall of Fame ICON Series. On sale now,
who designed this version of Cinderella there will be two digital packs available: 1,500 available
with inspiration from her iconic 10-packs selling for $249 apiece, and 5,000 packs
magical transformation scene. The with four ICONs apiece selling for $99 each. Future
Disney Princess Dolls are quite lim- plans for the Baseball Legends Series include the use of
ited, and Cinderella will get a 9,800 3D scanning technology to capture treasured baseball
piece release and a $129.99 price tag. artifacts from the museum’s archives in digital form.

OUTTHERECOLORADO.COM – According PHILADELPHIA – More than 175 years after his death, a man named
to a recent report by StorageCafe.com, Denver John Voorhees may finally have a proper burial. Voorhees died of con-
is the best city in the U.S. for thrift shopping. sumption, or tuberculosis, at a hospital for the poor in 1846, at the age of
“We analyzed the 50 most populous metropoli- 35. But, after his death and without his consent or knowledge, his
tan areas and compared them against a series of remains ended up in the hands of Samuel George Morton, a 1800s
metrics including the number of resale venues physician and anatomist known for his influential racist theories on
(thrift shops, flea markets, antique shops and intellect. Voorhees was one of 13 Black Philadelphians whose skulls were
more), resale sales per capita, thrifting-related subject to Morton’s experiments. In 2020, a group of students brought
Google searches and self storage, as the service to light that some 50 skulls on display had come from enslaved
is very helpful in managing vintage finds,” the Africans in Cuba and called for the bones to be returned to descen-
report reads. Denver was ranked first overall for its high scores in dants. The museum is petitioning the Orphans’ Court in Philadelphia
the thrift establishment availability, thrifting sales volumes, and to bury the 13 skulls at Eden Cemetery, a historically Black cemetery.
thrifting-related Google searches categories. The museum will then turn to repatriating the skulls from Cuba.
6 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles