WOODBURY, Conn. (AP) - Several western Connecticut antiques dealers are asking lawmakers and tourism officials to designate their area as the Historic Woodbury Antiques District.

Woodbury, a small town located off Interstate 84 about 50 miles west of Hartford, is home to numerous shops and galleries. Their collectibles, art, furnishings and other antiques draw buyers from throughout New England.

The Woodbury Antiques Dealers Association is asking Connecticut to grant the official designation in hopes that the state will erect signs on I-84 directing people to town.

They say establishing a Connecticut Antique Trail would be similar to its Wine Trail, which connects 19 state vineyards; or the Art Trail, a route between 15 museums and historic sites.

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Information from: Republican-American, http://www.rep-am.com

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-ES-03-08-09 1142EDT

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (ACNI) - One week after learning the tragic news that antique doll authority Richard Wright had died, the revered dealer's friends and colleagues in the trade banded together to carry on his legacy at the Eastern National Antique Doll Show in Gaithersburg.

"Of course Richard was on everyone's minds," said Wright's close friend Becky Ourant, who co-owns Village Doll & Toy Shop in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. "People took his death personally; it wasn't just a loss to the profession. But we all made the decision that we had to heal and move on with the business of dolls because that's absolutely what Richard would have wanted us to do."

Becky and her husband and business partner, Andy Ourant, joined Wright's life partner of 11 years, Glenn Stevens; and two of Wright's longtime employees in stocking and managing the Gaithersburg show booth that Richard had booked.

"When the booth opened, there was immediate interest," Becky Ourant said. "People knew we would be selling the last doll collection Richard had bought. Even when he was in the hospital before he passed away, he was calling people to let them know he would be coming to Gaithersburg with fresh merchandise."

The challenge of vetting the dolls for condition and identifying them from Wright's 28-page inventory list so they could be priced properly fell squarely on Becky Ourant's shoulders - a task she said she was happy to do. "It made me feel I was doing something to help my friend," she said.

Business at the Richard Wright booth was nonstop. "There was always a line of people waiting to buy at Richard's booth at past editions of Gaithersburg, and that spirit continued. The buyers were two and three deep. We did two unpackings, first filling the tables, then the stands. People were piling up what they wanted and we were writing up the receipts later because we were so busy."

BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese man said Monday he was the mystery collector behind winning bids for two imperial bronzes auctioned at Christie's over Beijing's objections, and that he made the bogus offers to protest any sale of the looted relics.

Auction house owner Cai Mingchao said he made the $36 million bid for the bronze rat and rabbit heads by telephone last week when the pieces were auctioned in Paris as part of a collection owned by the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent.

"What I need to stress is that this money cannot be paid," Cai told a news conference in Beijing. "At the time, I was thinking that any Chinese would do this if they could...I only did what I was obliged to."

The Chinese government had attempted to halt the sale of the relics, saying they should be returned, not sold.

However, the government denied having anything to do with the fake bid.

The dispute underscores the challenges China faces in trying to recover numerous cultural objects stolen more than a century ago, when plunder was a given in warfare. Failed official protests against similar auctions have prompted state-owned companies and rich Chinese individuals to step in to buy the pieces.

The sculptures disappeared from the Summer Palace on the outskirts of Beijing when French and British forces sacked and burned it at the end of the second Opium War in 1860. Chinese view the devastation of the palace - the traditional emperors' country residence, which is filled with art treasures - as a national humiliation.

BEIJING (AP) - Beijing moved swiftly to punish Christie's with tightened customs rules Thursday after its protests failed to stop the sale of two imperial bronze sculptures taken from China nearly 150 years ago.

The move signals China's resolve in its campaign to rescue pieces of its cultural heritage now scattered around the world - but the impact of the new rules on the auction house, if any, was not clear.

The disputed 18th century fountainheads - heads of a rat and a rabbit - were sold to an unidentified telephone bidder or bidders Wednesday for $36 million as part of an auction of art works owned by the late French designer Yves Saint Laurent.

China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage condemned the sale of the two bronzes and said it would affect Christie's interests in the country, ordering tighter inspections of all cultural relics that the auction house seeks to bring in or out of mainland China.

Border authorities will single out Christie's artifacts and demand certificates of legal ownership and documented details of ownership history, the agency said. Items lacking sufficient documentation will be stopped.

The auction of the bronzes "goes against the spirit of relevant international conventions and the international common understanding that cultural relics should be returned to their country of origin," the administration said in a statement.

The sculptures disappeared from the Old Summer Palace on the outskirts of Beijing when French and British forces sacked and burned it at the close of the second Opium War in 1860. Chinese view the devastation of the palace, the country residence of emperors which was full of art treasures, as a national humiliation.

The palace bronzes are part of a dozen animal heads from the Chinese zodiac that formed an elaborate water clock fountain designed by Jesuit missionaries. The 12 heads marked time by spouting water.

MADISON, N.J. (ACNI) - Mark and Michael Millea, partners in Millea Bros. Ltd., of Madison, N.J., have announced that over the weekend of May 1st, their firm will auction antiques, art and other personal property from the main residence at Duke Farms, once the home of heiress, philanthropist and conservationist Doris Duke (1912-1993).

The consignor is the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, whose grants support causes that were important to its founder: the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and child abuse prevention. The organization also preserves and protects the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties.

Millea's auction will be held at the Morristown Armory in Morristown, N.J., with a preview tentatively scheduled for the day before the opening session. Approximately 650 lots will be offered, with the basic categories being traditional antiques, Asian works of art, including porcelains and jades; English sterling silver, Chinese and Persian carpets, 17th- to mid-20th-century furniture, and a sizable selection of fine lighting. Additionally, the sale is expected to include selected draperies and window treatments.

All articles included in the sale were in actual use in the elegant 60,000-square-foot home that Doris Duke chose as her principal residence. Duke inherited the 2,700-acre Duke Farms at age 12 upon the death of her father, tobacco and energy tycoon James Buchanan Duke. At age 14, she sought and won a court injunction against her mother, Nanaline Holt Inman Duke, which prevented Duke Farms from being sold.

Throughout her adult life, Doris Duke took pleasure in filling the home's rambling interior with possessions that were a testament to her world view on art.

While the auction's contents represent the flawless taste in antiques and art that one would expect of a very wealthy and well-traveled woman, there will be affordable items in the sale, as well. "There are things for the serious collector - such as French giltwood furnishings, a 17th-century Italian cassone and two Steinway grand pianos - and also very affordable upholstered chairs and household objects," said Michael Millea.

*   Gold monogrammed traveling dressing set by Morabito, Paris

*   Pair Qing Dynasty jeweled gilt-metal botanical models

*   Shooting gallery background by W.F. Mangels Co., Coney Island, N.Y.

*   Two Art Deco period painted screens attributed to Boris Lovet-Lorski

*   English silver box with mileage map of North America by Asprey & Co., London

*   19th-century Anglo-Irish cut-crystal 16-arm chandelier

*   Sterling silver, enamel and jeweled terrestrial globe mapped with Grand Tour route

Michael Millea expressed delight over being chosen to deaccession Doris Duke's personal property from the main residence at Duke Farms: "Millea Brothers is honored and excited to be given the opportunity to offer the personal property of such a legendary American figure," he said. "Doris Duke's discerning eye, adventurous spirit and fascination with Eastern cultures are reflected in the objects she surrounded herself with."

Additional details on this important auction will be available to view soon on Millea's Web site: www.milleabros.com. As always, LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding service for the sale. To contact Millea Bros., call 973-377-1500 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Copyright 2009 Auction Central News International. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

BEIJING (AP) - China said Tuesday that it was "ridiculous" for the longtime partner of French fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent who owns two Chinese imperial bronzes to say he would return the relics to Beijing if the government gave Tibet freedom.

The disputed Chinese bronze fountainheads - of a rabbit and a rat - are due for sale at a three-day Paris auction of art from the collection of the late French fashion designer. China has opposed the auction, saying the artifacts should be returned.

Pierre Berge, the longtime partner of the French fashion icon, has suggested that the Chinese government should worry about human rights in its country.

"I'm absolutely ready to give myself to China, with my two heads of the sculpture," Berge said Monday. "The only thing I ask is, for the Chinese government to have human rights, to give liberty to the Tibet people and to welcome the Dalai Lama."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu rejected Berge's suggestion that the two could be traded. He reiterated China's position that the auction of the looted imperial bronzes is an offense to the Chinese people.

"To infringe upon Chinese people's cultural rights under the pretext of human rights, this is just ridiculous," he said.

"In modern history, Western imperial powers have looted a lot of China's cultural relics including those in the Summer Palace," Ma said. "These cultural relics should be returned to China."

Ma's comments came a day after a French judge refused to halt the sale of the Chinese artifacts in Christie's auction.

In Hong Kong, a small group protested outside the French consulate Tuesday, holding banners and chanting slogans to demand the return of the bronzes.

"These two items are national treasures. They shouldn't be put up for sale in auction," said pro-Beijing lawmaker Chan Hak-kan. "France has a moral responsibility to return the two Chinese bronze fountainheads intact to China."

The bronze heads disappeared from the summer Imperial Palace on the outskirts of Beijing when French and British forces sacked it at the close of the second Opium War in 1860.

The fountainheads date to the early Qing Dynasty, established by invading Manchu tribesmen in 1644. The Christie's catalog says they were made for the Zodiac fountain of the summer Imperial Palace.

They are expected to sell for up to $13 million each, according to preauction estimates.

A China-linked group, APACE, had sought to block the sale of the bronzes. The group acknowledged that Saint Laurent acquired the bronzes legally, but said they should be returned to China or at least displayed in a museum.

Christie's said in a statement earlier this month that while it "respects the cultural context around the sale of the fountainheads, we respectfully believe the auction will proceed."

The issue threatens to further strain tensions with France that have led to protests and calls from the Chinese public to boycott French goods. China canceled a December summit with the European Union to protest talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese accuse of supporting Tibetan separatism.

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Associated Press writer Dikky Sinn contributed to this report from Hong Kong.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-CS-02-24-09 0553EST

PARIS (AP) - A French judge has ruled against halting the sale of disputed Chinese bronze fountainheads heading for Christie's auction block as part of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's estate.

The judge has also ordered the association that sought to prevent the sale to pay euro1,000 ($1,275) in fines each to the auction house and to the firm of Pierre Berge, the collection's consignor and longtime partner of the late French fashion icon.

The bronze heads of a rabbit and a rat disappeared from the summer Imperial Palace on the outskirts of Beijing when French and British forces sacked it at the close of the second Opium War in 1860.

The issue has cast a shadow over a three-day auction, starting Monday, of 733 works of art collected over half a century by Saint Laurent and Berge. It has not, however, deterred bidders. As reported in a separate Associated Press story appearing on Auction Central News, the Monday evening opening session of the auction has broken the existing record for a European auction, bringing in $266 million.

Lawyers for a China-linked group, APACE, sought to block the sale of the bronzes - not the entire auction. The group acknowledged that Saint Laurent acquired the bronzes legally, but said they should be returned to China or at least displayed in a museum.

Jean-Paul Chazal, a lawyer for Christie's, said he was "entirely satisfied" by the ruling, and chastised APACE for straying from the rules it faces under French law.

He insisted that such an advocacy group has a role to defend its members  "not to substitute itself for the Embassy of China, a state, or a government prosecutor."

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Opponents of a state plan to close a home for troubled youth are battling to preserve its legacy by keeping military uniforms, band instruments, photographs, paintings and other artifacts dating back to the Civil War.

Alumni and staff of the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home in Knightstown and the Indiana American Legion, which supports the home, want a judge to bar the state from removing historical photographs and other items from the campus.

Diana Bossingham, president of the home's alumni association, said pictures, paintings and artifacts dating from the home's opening in 1865 remain its property and could later become part of a museum.

The alumni group has filed a request for a preliminary injunction barring the items' removal in Rush County Circuit Court. A hearing on the request is scheduled Thursday.

The complaint says the state indicated its intention to remove property from the home and has already taken away some items. It also says much of the property at the home was donated for the children who lived there, and that ownership should be established before the state removes anything.

"We're looking to retain things that were part of our childhood," said Bossingham, a 1973 graduate of the home.

Jennifer Dunlap, spokeswoman for the Indiana State Department of Health, said the Commission of Public Records for the state archives removed four photographs from the school at the end of January.

The Indiana State Museum also visited the children's home Feb. 4 to survey and inventory historical artifacts to determine what will need to be preserved if the school closes. Museum officials planned to return but were asked to wait because of the sensitivity of the school closure, Dunlap said.

The Health Department also asked that the photographs removed by the state archives be returned, she said.

The department announced last month that it planned to close the home at the end of the school year in May and move the 114 students in grades 5-12 into community settings. The agency cited the costs to renovate and maintain the facility, saying $65 million to $200 million is needed to renovate the 50-acre, 53-building campus.

The privately funded home was founded in 1865 to care for children of Civil War veterans and once housed 1,000 children. The state took control two years later, and in the 1890s the school began accepting the destitute children of all veterans. Eventually, it opened its doors to other at-risk children.

Dunlap said the decision to close the home came as a result of three years of discussion.

"This has been a long process of assessment and evaluation. This was not a quick decision," she said.

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-CS-02-16-09 0200EST

BEIJING (AP) - China has demanded the return of looted imperial bronzes scheduled to be sold in Paris as part of the estate auction of the late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

The sculptures of a rat head and rabbit disappeared in 1860, when French and British forces sacked the former summer palace on the outskirts of Beijing at the close of the second Opium War, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regularly scheduled news conference Thursday that the pieces were "stolen and taken away by intruders," and "should be returned to China."

The issue threatens to further strain tensions with France that have led to protests and calls from the Chinese public to boycott French goods. China canceled a December summit with the European Union to protest talks between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese accuse of supporting Tibetan separatism.

The two bronzes - which are expected to sell for about 8 to 10 million euros ($10.4 to $13 million) each, according to Xinhua - are to be auctioned Feb. 23-25 in Paris along with other pieces belonging to the estate of Saint Laurent, who died last year.

DALLAS - Heritage Auction Galleries has reported $709.664,132 in net sales for 2008, by far the largest in its history. This figure represents results from all of Heritage's 26 departments, and includes all auction and private treaty sales.

"This was a year of sales growth, right from the very beginning," said Greg Rohan, president of Heritage. "We started the year with a record-breaking auction at the Florida United Numismatists convention - more than $63.5 million, making it the second biggest coin and currency auction ever held after our $78 million 2007 FUN auction."  

Heritage then went on to break record after record as the year progressed, racking up a total of $252.7 million in U.S. coin auction sales, a 20 percent increase over 2007 sales, itself a record. In 2008 Heritage also set a new record for currency auctions - $40.9 million, nearly a 35 percent increase over its record 2007 sales.

"Our World Coin Department turned in some exceptional results this year," said Rohan, "with total auction sales of more than $16 million."

"Currency was another hot area in 2008," said Rohan, "with Heritage claiming the record for the two largest currency auctions ever: our May Central States currency auction grossing $14,203,004, and our $13,333,364 September Long Beach Currency auction."

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Salt dips?

Stanhope viewers?

You collect ... what?

Those are frequent questions from friends and acquaintances to members of the River City Collectors Guild. They get some curious looks, too. But when they come together for their monthly meetings, they find like-minded people.

"They don't think you're crazy," said Bobbie Herman, who collects salt dips. Salt dips, or salt cellars, were used before salt shakers, when salt was more precious. They often came with tiny spoons and were kept near the head of the table.

John Poehlein collects the rare Stanhope viewers, named after the inventor who placed miniature photos, some risqué or political, inside trinkets with a tiny hole to look through when held to the light.

"It's something exclusive; 99 out of 100 people don't know what a Stanhope is, even collectors,'' Poehlein said.

Poehlein garners surprise for his collection of items related to and books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of Tarzan.

"People do look at me cross-eyed when I tell them," he said. "(But) it's an ego boost."

The guild celebrates together when a member brings the latest "find" from their treasure hunts through antique stores and flea markets.

"I'm jealous of some of their collections," Poehlein said. "They have some really neat stuff."

Bargain-hunting and browsing are half the fun.

"You get driven,'' Poehlein said. "You can't wait to get there, to see what you can find."

Judie Didriksen, who collects china, agreed.

"It's the thrill of finding the piece you've been looking for or a real bargain," she said.

And once the bounty has been found, Alice Fast said she enjoys looking over her collection again.

"It really is the thrill of the hunt - what's around the next corner or in the next booth," said Fast, who collects handkerchiefs.

Once at a mall in Kansas City, Fast "hit the jackpot" with a basket full of 1950s crocheted handkerchiefs. She said she was so excited she had to limit her spending for the day.

The guild's mission statement says if you have three or more of anything, you have a collection.

"If it was made to be used, somebody is collecting it," said Poehlein, also an antique dealer. "It doesn't matter how silly it is."

Many times a collection begins with sentimental ties.

Herman started collecting as a young mother new to the community looking for a social outlet. So, many of her salt dips hold memories of friends and those experiences.

"Your first collection is always the dearest," Herman said. "It was bringing home a little treasure, that didn't cost a great deal."

For Didriksen, it was her grandmother's mixing bowl that produced homemade bread and biscuits. Today she mixes cakes in the same Autumn Leaf-pattern bowl for her family.

But she discovered the Jewel Tea Co. issued plates, cups and saucers, dinner settings, tins and many other kitchen items as premiums. And she was hooked.

The history of the first fresh coffee company drew her in even more. She was intrigued by how the Jewel Tea Co. began as one man and a horse-drawn wagon and 10 years later was a million-dollar business.

Most of these collectors don't collect as an investment, nor do they add any piece just to increase their numbers.

"I've always been interested in history," Herman said. "It's amazing what you can learn from this stuff.

"For me, it's how much you can learn, not how much you can acquire."

Many of the members have amassed such collections that they wait until they find something special to add.

"When you start a collection, you find all you can," Fast said. "As you learn more, you might differentiate by quality."

And sometimes pieces no longer are available.

Poehlein has a collection of old chewing gum packages and promotional items. His favorite is a 1930s pack of Indian brand trading cards with the rare original wrapper, which he found buried in the bottom of a miscellaneous box at an auction.

"Oh man, I guarded it all day long to make sure nobody messed with it," Poehlein said.

Fast said she has similar trouble finding more additions for her Sun Bonnet Babies collection.

Collectors can be easy and difficult to buy gifts for. Where Herman's children can buy one more piece to add to her Zell dinnerware collection, Fast's friends might have a hard time finding a Jefferson City postcard she doesn't already have.

But Didriksen's husband found a long sought-after Autumn Leaf teapot at a summertime national convention and managed to hide it until Christmas.

"That was fun," she said.

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP-CS-01-30-09 0106EST

LONDON (ACNI) - There was the unmistakable whiff of the sepulchre about Antiquarius this morning following the news that the Grade II-listed Arts & Crafts period building on the Kings Road will be occupied later this year by wealthy U.S. fashion giant Anthropologie.

Fifteen minutes after opening time this morning there was barely a dealer in sight, the only activity coming from the on-site greasy spoon cafeteria that serves the dealers who show here. The handful of traders who had bothered to turn up looked as if their world was about to end as they wearily unlocked their stands. Most were unprepared to talk. Perhaps they fear that publicizing the imminent closure of the centre could dampen what little business is left to scrape together before everyone is finally evicted in a few months time.

The deal that now looks almost certain to go through would allow Anthropologie (which also sells antiques and decorative objects from its 100 stores across the United States) to acquire the lease from owners retail property investment company London & Associated Properties (LAP). Since acquiring it in 2006, LAP has made several attempts to secure planning permission to develop the building, but all their applications have been turned down. However, this doesn't seem to have stopped them going ahead with internal structural alterations.

Under the proposed deal, Anthropologie will work under the auspices of English Heritage to fund and execute a restoration of the listed building, constructed in the 1920s by the Temperance Movement) before turning the Kings Road premises into its first London outlet.