The Magna Carta Is On Sale

That's a headline I never thought I'd read, but its true. Sotheby's Auctioneers, who specialize in antique appraisals and auctions in New York, is expected to announce that the historical document will be put up for auction some time in mid-December and they estimate that it will sell for $20 million - $30 million. The owner is none other than former presidential candidate, Ross Perot. His foundation purchased it for $1.5 million in 1984 from the relatives of James Thomas Brudenell, who was the Earl of Cardigan and led the Light Brigade in 1854 during the Crimean War. The auctioneer will be David N. Redden, a Sotheby's vice chairman who has sold several great pieces over his career including a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $7.4 million in 2000 and also items from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's estate in 1996 including a $574,500 humidor from President John F. Kennedy and a $415,000 rocking chair.
Don't remember exactly what the Magna Carta is? In simple terms, the Magna Carta is a historical document which laid down the fundamentals of English law. The literal translation is “Great Paper,” and King John of England agreed to it in 1215 and continued to revise it through the 13^th century. To put it in perspective, some very unhappy colonists complained about King George III violating it before they decided to dump a lot of tea into their harbor. The event and the laws that they demanded equality for both contributed to the creation of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Perot version of the Magna Carta dates to 1297 and was endorsed by King Edward I. It is considered by some experts to be the most important version because it is the one that was entered into the statute books in England. It is the only copy that is privately owned and the only one known to be in the United States, where it has been open to public viewing until last week at the National Archives. Sotheby's says that the 16 others are owned by the British or Australian governments or by ecclesiastical or educational institutions in England.
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What's In A Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
-Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

A few of iTaggit's members have been writing lately about old books they have had or found. Some are first editions, some have valuable signatures, and some have no idea what they are looking at or how valuable it is. Well, if you stumble upon a book, or even a piece of paper, that happens to have William Shakespeare's signature on it, you have tremendous luck or a very interesting heirloom on your hands. Although in modern times, it seems two hours can't pass without someone needing you to sign your name, in the past it was much more rare, even if you worked with a quill and parchment on a daily basis. For all the writing Shakespeare did, his signature is one of the most scarce to find. Today, there are only six of the playwright's known authenticated signatures in existence, making his one of the most valuable in the world. The known ones can be found on a conveyance for a house in London, a legal deposition, a mortgage document, and three are in his will. Any one of those has been quoted at a value of $3 million. That amount makes any name sweet.

Treasure Tuesday - Avon Jewelry

Quite by accident, I have discovered a new love affair with Avon Jewelry. A couple of years ago, I found a fabulous necklace at an Antiques store, and noticed it was signed Avon.

A little research online has revealed that Avon's vintage jewelry is quite collectible - not worth a whole lot $$ wise, but very cool.

Last week, iTaggit released an awesome new feature that allows you to post an item for sale on ebay in a few clicks.

I posted this necklace, on a whim. I had never sold on ebay - can you believe it? I was amazed that someone purchased it! So while I was on ebay, I looked around for pieces I wanted to buy, and found another amazing Avon necklace.

In one week I sold and purchased my first items on ebay - it was very exciting! The new piece is super awesome - 1970s deco style (deco refers to 1920s to 30s style - geometric, urban and angular with a few fancy flourishes). This is all the rage right now in fashion.

Now I have added the new necklace to my Funky Vintage Necklaces collection, and plan on selling and buying a lot more on ebay soon! Check out our online Help section for step by step guides to all the things you can do on iTaggit!

The Most Expensive Dessert In The World

Sure your collectibles are worth a lot of money, but a dessert? Sri Lanka has great antiques to buy, and is certainly known for their Buddhist temples, but “The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence,” which debuted in March, has brought delicacy and wealth to new heights. Its creation was inspired by the success of the restaurant’s other gem-studded treat, the Bombay Sapphire Martini. Wine3, one of the resort's restaurants, offers the Indulgence for $14,500. Yes, I typed that correctly. $14,500. What makes it so special? “The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence was created to give visitors at The Fortress Resort in the coastal city of Galle a one-of-a-kind experience,” said Shalini Perera, public relations manager at The Fortress. The dessert is a gold leaf Italian cassata flavored with Irish cream. It is served with a mango and pomegranate compote and a champagne sabayon enlighten, and is complimented by a chocolate carving of a fisherman clinging to a stilt, an age old local fishing practice. But the crowning jewel, and I mean that quite literally, is the 80 carat aquamarine stone that rests on a sliver of chocolate shaped to resemble the traditional stilt fisherman that is part of The Fortress' logo. Patrons are welcomed to pocket the gem after they polish off the delectable dessert. Although, the hotel has had many inquiries about the item, one as far away as Japan, no one has yet forked over the money to try it.

The Hunt For October: Post Season AL Matchups

As the end of the regular season draws near, and the pennant race begins, the four teams to represent the American League in the post season are all but decided. This will hopefully be a good October for baseball fans and memorabilia collectors alike.

The Red Sox and Yankees have always been historic rivals, and this year is no exception in their heated fight to the finish. Although the Red Sox were dominating the AL East through the summer, the Yankee bats have been a blaze, as they've whittled away a Sox 14½ game lead in late May down to the 1½ game lead it is now. Red Sox fans have reasons to be tense. They've had a few injuries including Ortiz's right knee acting up, which has effected his batting. They also lost two of the last three to the yanks this past weekend and then continued on their spiral down, dropping three straight to the Blue Jays, who are 12½ games back in the AL East. The Yanks are leading quite an opposite life. They have won 12 of their past 14 games, racking up a whopping 103 runs in the 17 September games they've played, and show no sign of slowing down.

Cleveland has been this year's surprise success. They squeezed through the last three games against the Detroit Tigers, the second place team in the AL Central, winning by three runs or less each game, and will be well rested for next week.

The Angels have finished with the league's best record which bodes well for them in the post season, and their tendency to dominate their opposition at their home field will help them succeed in passing through the first round.

Enjoy the post season and don't forget to show off your sports memorabilia!

Refinished Antiques Make Great Conversation Pieces

I have recently noticed how popular antiques are becoming, even among the various generations. It is not uncommon for a college student to pick up some old furniture at a garage sale, but all sorts of retailers are throwing back their designs to older styles. Reupholstering older furniture can add value to the piece as well as character to the room. Every collector knows they have at least one major conversation piece in their collection, and the same should be applied to a room of furniture. Estate sales often have great focal point pieces that are reasonably priced, and they may even come with a good story behind them. The more you can find out about a piece from an antique appraisal or antique price guide the better. If the piece is a family heirloom, it would be beneficial to keep and digitally store the records that might have come with the piece. For instance, my family has a chest my grandfather brought over from Sweden when he was small, but there are very little markings on it and it did not come with papers, so it will be difficult to determine all of its history. Moral of the story? The next time a parent or grandparent starts getting rid of their old antiques that have been collecting dust for years, brush them off and give them a second look. They'll be of no value to you once they're gone.

Mystery Behind Holocaust Painter's Album Partially Solved

It has been 60 years since the end of World War II, and as the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the mysteries of that horrific era become more difficult to solve. Recently, the story behind an album of historically unique value has been partially solved.

Shari Klages' recalls wandering into her parents bedroom as a small child and thumbing through a leather-bound album that held around 30 pages of ink-and-watercolor images, depicting the horrors of Dachau. She knew her father had spent the last few weeks of World War II in Dachau, but did not know how he came to possess this album. He had immigrated to the states on a ship with more than 60 Holocaust orphans and had taken his life in 1972. The signature “Porulski”, found on the bottom of a few of the pages, was her sole clue as to who the artist was.

The album begins with an image of four prisoners in winter coats. They are carrying their suitcases and marching toward Dachau's watchtower, which was armed with SS guards. The next depicts two inmates being stripped for an exam by a kapo, a prisoner who worked for the Nazis. As the drawings continue, they become more debasing and humiliating from the inmate's perspective. In the final image, a man is lying on the ground next to the barbed wire fence that separated him from freedom, but he has been killed under the looming watchtower. The album also contained 258 photographs, including copies of well-known images of the dead, but also those that portrayed Dachau an an idyllic summer camp, which the Nazis used for propaganda.

Thanks to modern technology archiving and a little help from the Associated Press, Klages located records that documented Porulski's journey. He had enrolled in the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in 1934, after completing two years in the Polish army service. After Germany invaded in 1939, he worked on painting postcards of Nazi-occupied Poland. Two of his postcards have survived and are currently located in the Warsaw Museum of Caricature. He was rounded up in 1940, arrested “without any reason,” and was moved from camp to camp before being recorded at Dachau as Michal Porulski, Profession: Artist in 1941. It has been assumed that Porulski created his works after his release, due to the fact that they are all done on the same paper and that no prisoner would have dared to draw such horrors under the Nazis' watchful eyes. Porulski was tragically unable to resume a normal life after the years he had spent in concentration camps, and he wandered from country to country before finally becoming homeless and painting in England, where he passed away at the age of 74.

Though Klages is unsure of where her father and Porulski crossed paths outside of Dachau, it is certain that he treasured Porulski's work as a documentation of what the two men had been through. If you have any treasures of historical value, document and catalog them for the generations to come.