27 May 2013
Story #669
R. Linda:
The question is this: What do you do when you find out that the musty old statue that doesn't go with the decor or history of the place you are in is assessed for a lorry full of cash? You sell it, right? You send an alert to eBay shoppers everywhere that YOU have something extraordinary and a must-have for someone who collects all things Egyptian or someone in Egypt who might want it back. Yes, indeed.
Here is what it looks like:
R. Linda:
The question is this: What do you do when you find out that the musty old statue that doesn't go with the decor or history of the place you are in is assessed for a lorry full of cash? You sell it, right? You send an alert to eBay shoppers everywhere that YOU have something extraordinary and a must-have for someone who collects all things Egyptian or someone in Egypt who might want it back. Yes, indeed.
Here is what it looks like:
| Photo: Northampton Museum (and yes, that is the "little woman" at her lord and master's feet) |
Nice, huh? You can dust it off, photograph it, and post it on eBay! How simple would that be? Well, not so fast.
Before one sticks the thing on eBay, one must make sure the person who donated it all those many long years ago doesn't have a relative who might get wind of your perfect 5-star sale and put a stop to your cashing in.
That is exactly what happened to the Northampton Borough Council, which had met several times to brainstorm ways to fund heritage projects in the area. Imagine their surprise when an insurance assessment gave them quite a large and surprising monetary figure.
They'd like to sell it mainly so they can invest the money in cultural projects that are more in keeping with modern Northampton's cultural needs.
The council feels the "piece" is not a central part of the borough's history, truly. It was picked up by Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, a 19th-century aristocrat and second Marquess and donated in 1880 by the fourth Marquess of Northampton to the borough museum's Egyptian collection. The statue is a mere 30" tall sculpture of Sekhema, thought to date to 2400 BC. But the seventh Marquess and current Lord Northampton, Spencer Douglas David Compton, is quite certain the council has no authority in the sale of his relative's donation. He has his legal experts stepping in to prevent the sale, and it looks like he is right. I suppose it is all a question: IS the statue a part of the original collection or just an added piece? I ask you? I'm sure I don't know and since I be making nothing on this, I don't really care either. But then that's me.
The gift of deed does indeed say that "at no time dispose of any part of the collection." It further states that the loss of the statue or any specimen would leave the museum financially liable, and the entire collection would revert to the Marquess or his heirs. This tells me the seventh Marquess doesn't want it either, and well . . . we are talking a cool £2 million. But could it be the "curse" that all Egyptian statues brought to England seem to produce, as it is a fact that the second Marquess died the very next year he brought Sekhama home to Northampton! So there is THAT little bother.
Oh, what one could do with all that money! A council spokesman feels the "piece" is not a "key part" of the town's history. And the insurance fees to keep the liability claims at bay could be better spent on other things, more modern and needful, as well as beneficial to Northampton, the town, not the Marquess.
So, ladies and gents, what should they do? I think if the "piece" was added after the original Egyptian collection, it should go on the block. Haul it off to eBay post-haste, I say! And don't mention anything about a curse if you put it in an auction. Shhh, mummies the word, I mean mum!
Gabe
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved
Before one sticks the thing on eBay, one must make sure the person who donated it all those many long years ago doesn't have a relative who might get wind of your perfect 5-star sale and put a stop to your cashing in.
That is exactly what happened to the Northampton Borough Council, which had met several times to brainstorm ways to fund heritage projects in the area. Imagine their surprise when an insurance assessment gave them quite a large and surprising monetary figure.
They'd like to sell it mainly so they can invest the money in cultural projects that are more in keeping with modern Northampton's cultural needs.
The council feels the "piece" is not a central part of the borough's history, truly. It was picked up by Spencer Joshua Alwyne Compton, a 19th-century aristocrat and second Marquess and donated in 1880 by the fourth Marquess of Northampton to the borough museum's Egyptian collection. The statue is a mere 30" tall sculpture of Sekhema, thought to date to 2400 BC. But the seventh Marquess and current Lord Northampton, Spencer Douglas David Compton, is quite certain the council has no authority in the sale of his relative's donation. He has his legal experts stepping in to prevent the sale, and it looks like he is right. I suppose it is all a question: IS the statue a part of the original collection or just an added piece? I ask you? I'm sure I don't know and since I be making nothing on this, I don't really care either. But then that's me.
The gift of deed does indeed say that "at no time dispose of any part of the collection." It further states that the loss of the statue or any specimen would leave the museum financially liable, and the entire collection would revert to the Marquess or his heirs. This tells me the seventh Marquess doesn't want it either, and well . . . we are talking a cool £2 million. But could it be the "curse" that all Egyptian statues brought to England seem to produce, as it is a fact that the second Marquess died the very next year he brought Sekhama home to Northampton! So there is THAT little bother.
Oh, what one could do with all that money! A council spokesman feels the "piece" is not a "key part" of the town's history. And the insurance fees to keep the liability claims at bay could be better spent on other things, more modern and needful, as well as beneficial to Northampton, the town, not the Marquess.
So, ladies and gents, what should they do? I think if the "piece" was added after the original Egyptian collection, it should go on the block. Haul it off to eBay post-haste, I say! And don't mention anything about a curse if you put it in an auction. Shhh, mummies the word, I mean mum!
Gabe
Copyright © 2013 All rights reserved
LMAO
ReplyDeletethe thing should have never left Egypt! isn't that considered looting, even back then? or was it grave robbing?LOL It IS cursed! people don't really want the statue, they just want the money that it's worth. tsk tsk
I agree with you Muse.
DeleteAh and for sure the little village of Northampton could improve itself if only, LOL. Goes to show the class system is very much in attendance. The statue belongs to Egypt if someone wants to notify them that a missing Sekhema (though a wee bit dusty), is residing in a museum in a little corner of the U.K. Cough!
ReplyDeleteYou sure are Irish, LOL.
DeleteLucky. Long time no see! Live the new icon lol
ReplyDeleteI'm living it! LOL
DeleteI meant love. Typo :-(
ReplyDelete