Auctioned Antiques

choi

(1) Sean P Murphy and Andrea Estes, Antique and Invaluable or New and Suspect?  The vase that drew a $1.7 m bid is also drawing federal scrutiny. Boston Globe, May 12, 2013 (front page)
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro ... PRE4OzhP/story.html
(a vase sold in Massachusetts on Mar 30, 2013 for $1.7m is most likely the same as the one sold in Iowa on May 23, 2012 as a recent reproduction for $3,840; federal investigation ensued)

(a) five consecutive paragraphs:

"the frenzied Chinese art and auction market [] has exploded in recent years as wealthy Chinese collectors have spent vast sums on art and other luxury items at auctions around the world.

"But with that rapid growth has come charges of fraud and fakery as people attempt to cash in on perhaps the world’s most lucrative art market.

“'The trouble in China is that 70 percent of the art is fake. Even villages are reproducing ancient prototypes. A lot of the modern art is fake as well,' said Robert K Wittman, a former FBI agent who runs a firm that specializes in recovering stolen treasures.

"And the problems don’t stop there: Some bidders are fake, too.

“'One of the big problems is phantom buyers in the Chinese markets,' said Wittman. 'What’s happening is the Chinese are bidding up their own artwork . . . so they can point to that and say this is what it’s worth.'

(b) Note:
(a) Norwood, Massachusetts
hitp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwood,_Massachusetts

is a Boston suburb.
(b) Institute of Mongolian History, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China
(c)
(i) Beverly, Massachusetts
hitp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly,_Massachusetts
(incorporated in 1668, when it was named "Beverley" after Beverley in Yorkshire, England)
(ii) Beverley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverley
("The name of the town was changed to Bevreli or Beverlac, meaning beaver-lake or beaver-clearing, in the 10th century; a reference to the colonies of beavers in the River Hull at the time")
(d)
(i) Cedar Falls, Iowa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Falls,_Iowa
(the city was renamed Cedar Falls because of its proximity to the Cedar River)
(ii) fall (n):
"a precipitous descent of water : WATERFALL —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fall

choi

(2) Todd Wallack, Internet Helps Untangle a Web of Purloined Art. Boston Globe, May 10, 2013 (front page).
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro ... l3lCjJCN/story.html

(a) first six paragraphs:

"Art gallery owner ­Alexander Acevedo was living the art hunter’s dream.

"Only one other person at the auction in upstate New York a few years ago seemed interested in the handsome 18th-century portrait of British earl William ­Ponsonby by an unknown artist. The auction catalog’s suggested value: $1,500 to $2,500.

"But Acevedo instantly recognized it as the work of none other than John Singleton Copley, the famous painter whose statue presides over Boston’s Copley Square, potentially making the painting worth more than $1 million.

"Acevedo managed to snag the portrait for just $85,000. Excited, he rushed home, getting in a minor car accident along the way, and stayed up late researching his find.

“'I was looking at a million-dollar profit and I was happy as a clam,' said Acevedo, owner of the Alexander Gallery in New York City.

"But as Acevedo researched the painting, his heart sank. It was stolen from Harvard University’s storage in 1971. Acevedo promptly ­returned the stolen work to the ­auctioneers, and it is now back at ­Harvard.

(b) Note:
(i) The Spanish surname Acevedo is "from Old Spanish acebedo, azevedo ‘holly grove’ (from azevo ‘holly’ + -edo ‘plantation’)."
(ii) The portrait at issue is

William Ponsonby, Second Earl of Bessborough, 1790
http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/230361

The 1790 refers to the year potrait was made.
(iii) William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ponsonby,_2nd_Earl_of_Bessborough
(1704-1793)
(iv) John Singleton Copley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Singleton_Copley
(1738-1815; an American painter)
(v) There is no need to read the rest, if you are not interested in art. The last two sentences of the report are as folows.

"Though the auctioneer refunded what he paid for the work, Acevedo watched his potential profit evaporate. 'I missed out on a million bucks.'"