A Book Review

by Lita Solis-Cohen

Rogues' Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum
by Michael Gross
Broadway Books, 2009, hardbound, 545 pages, $29.95

This unauthorized book about the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "the most encyclopedic, universal art museum in the world," takes the reader behind the façade.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/20/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1617

Georges Schreiber, Brooklyn Bridge, signed and dated “Schreiber 45,” 31½" x 43½", $20,000 (est.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/20/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1616

A number of items relating to the Arctic did well, including Joseph-Nicolas Delisle’s Nouvelles Cartes des Decouvertes de l’Amiral de Fonte, published in Paris in
1753.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/20/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1615

Four phone bidders competed for this exceptional and rare Philadelphia Federal satinwood
veneered mahogany games table, circa 1795.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/19/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1614 Christopher J.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/19/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1613

Block of wood, 9" x 5¼" x 4", with an imbedded medallion depicting the Constitution under sail and her significant naval victories listed in the margins.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/19/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1612

Bill Hill of Temperance, Michigan, knows his pressed steel pedal cars.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/18/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1611 The 13-year-old National Black Fine Art Show (NBFAS) will take a one-year hiatus, according to Keeling Wainwright Associates, producers of the event. Josh Wainwright, the show's founder, elaborated, "After thirteen years of excellence, the show will be taking a one-year 'breather' while the economy rushes toward a healthier state.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/18/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1610 by Daniel Grant Donations are down; institutional endowments are still in recovery mode; and expenses haven't gone away—it's difficult to be a museum in this economy.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/18/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1609 The Maine Board of Licensing of Auctioneers levied hefty fines against Maine auctioneers James Cyr and Thomas Madsen on October 7.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/17/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1608

Questions about the hardware had virtually no impact on the final outcome for this Boston secretary that sold for $49,450.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/17/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1607

The highlight of the auction was this People’s vase that brought $30,000.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/13/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1606 A dealer in New York has been handed a "death penalty"—no sales unless the objects are confirmed authentic by an independent lab, and all sales, including the names of the buyers, are reported to authorities. The attorney general of New York filed a lawsuit against Dr.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/13/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1605 by David Hewett Auctioneer Timothy Conroy was back in New York State Supreme Court on November 2, facing the latest charges in a two-year-long series of legal troubles involving charges of not paying consignors. The Elbridge, New York, auctioneer was charged with a single count of third-degree felony larceny by the state's attorney after being indicted in mid-October for failing to pay Mary Katherine Maloney of Syracuse, New York, more than $3000 in 2005.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/13/09) http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1604

Gordon’s early 19th-century Chinese export orange Fitzhugh platter, 14½" long, made for the American market, will be for sale at Sotheby’s on January 23 (est.]]> Maine Antique Digest (11/13/09)