Imagine: A 1,000-year-old carved rock crystal ewer, one of only seven known surviving examples, will be offered Christie's Islamic art sale next month. It's expected to bring over $5 million (U.S.)

Made for the court of the Fatimid rulers of Cairo in the late 10th or early 11th century, carved out of a single piece of hollowed-out rock crystal and later embellished in enameled gold mounts (1854) by a French silversmith.

The last time this ewer was bid on, it reached more than 1000 times its presale estimate. Well, the estimate is set pretty high this time, due to the more accurate description, I'm sure. This is truly a historic treasure.

The craftsmanship and the detail are overwhelming, especially considering it was carved and polished entirely by hand a thousand years ago. Whew! I'm going to watch—with great interest—for the outcome of this auction.

Click here to learn more about this exquisite piece and its history.

I'm troubled.

I read a news story this morning and I'm stuck on it. At the heart of the matter:

A Waterbury antiques dealer has been barred from selling vintage American flags on eBay because of restrictions he placed on who can buy the flags.

(You can read the full story here.)

Mark Albino, owner of C&M Antiques and Collectibles in Waterbury, veteran, and dealer of vintage flags, will not sell a flag to anyone who might desecrate it. An honorable stand to make.

Albino is also a powerseller on eBay, and eBay will not allow such buyer discrimination. Their policy is you either sell internationally or you don't - you don't get to pick and choose which countries you will ship to.

Perhaps Albino needs to find a new venue to sell his vintage flags ...

What are your feelings about this? It's a sad situation when we have to worry about the buyer's intent.

Armed with his trusted whip and those dimples, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is ready for another treasure hunt in theaters this weekend.

My son and I have been gearing up for the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by watching the first three Indy flicks. If you've ever questioned if there's anything sexy about antiques, then you've got to see at least one of these! But I have a feeling you already know the pursuit of rare artifacts -- the chase, the hunt for that perfect find -- can be quite thrilling. Probably not on the same level of violence and intrigue, but an interesting process nonetheless.

I think the reason I have enjoyed the Indiana Jones and National Treasure movies is that they go beyond adventure. They provide an entertaining avenue of unlocking the history behind the mystery while their goal at heart is preservation. These treasure hunters are archeaologists and historians. They want that artifact in their hands so they can safely turn it over to a museum or secure historic property. A viewer might miss that during the adrenaline rush, but those of us who are serious about historic preservation, think that's an important aspect that should never find its way to the cutting-room floor.

What was your most exciting antiques adventure? We'd love to hear about it.

I wrote about the Triceratops auction in Paris a while back...

Here's an update from a North Dakota archeologist who is hoping the buyer will give it back to the state, since the state was never given a chance to get it in the first place. There has been no word from the buyer, either on whether he or she will give it back, or who they are.

Look... As much as I'd like to give you back my triceratops - I call him Sticky - I just can't bear to. I rule the playground now, and the chicks really dig it...

This is pretty cool, especially considering that a) the philosophy of the Buddha was about the impermanance of all things and b) it's in Bamayan region of Afghanistan - well associated with the destruction of the giant stone Buddhas there by the taliban in 2001 - and these paintings are the earliest oils known.



This story is from Discovery News.

The giant stone buddhas are blown-up. Much gnashing of teeth. Seven years later, more, and rarer images show up in a hidden cave.

Afghanistan is so widely associated with Islam and the taliban, that it's easy to forget how important the region was in terms of the Buddhist way for several hundred years. It was a center of study and art and monasteries.

I hope these paintings are kept safe and sound. If not, never fear. It's all about impermanence anyway...

This summer, as the world prepares for the fourth installment of Indiana Jones - Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls - you can bet the real crystal skulls will be getting plenty of scrutiny from the public at large.



Yes, the Crystal Skulls really exist.

This is an article that appeared today on archeology.org, and it's quite enlightening as to the history of the real crystal skulls, about which there is suprisingly little really know, other than that they date back to ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures, among others, are weighty, valuable and bear little stylistic resemblance to any of the great art of antiquity that came out of these cultures.

If you're one of the 10s - yes 10s - of people that have read this blog with any sort of semi-regularity, you know I'm always game for a good conspiracy theory, especially if it involves shadow governments, aliens or marshmallow Fluff.

The crystal skulls fit all of these in that there are widespread theories about their mysterious magical qualities, that their secrets have been contained by malignant government forces, that they were gifts to ancient humankind from alien overseers and that I'd love to get my hands on one to see how well a jar of Fluff would spread on it - I can see an Elvis pompadour right now.

When me lived in the Hudson Valley, my wife was a longtime employee of The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, and every summer there would be a weekend workshop dedicated to the crystal skulls, in which at least one of the skulls would make an appearance and its magical powers would be revealed.

I always wanted to attend this workshop - along with the one about learning how to do remote seeing (see conspiracy theories above) - but never did, for fear of the ridicule I would have to endure. The aging hippies in the area loved it, though, and I heard tales extolling the virtues of these mysterious sculptures over and over. I should have taken the chance when I had it. Who needs to see Thich Naht Hahn, anyway?

They are indeed beautiful to behold, and certainly a little creepy. There are countles dissafected teenagers dying to burn a candle on top of one of these things and take a black and white picture of it, or put it on a shelf next to their similarly designed bong.



Indy will certainly reveal something important about the skulls when he makes millions this summer, so if you want to impress your friends with your advance knowledge of the skulls, check out the link to the truly informative archeology.org article, written by an expert. All kidding aside, it's good stuff.