Good evening, Museumlers - In this past Sunday New York Times:


  <http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif> 

	
	
	

  <http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif> 


 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/sports/baseball/donors-seeking-to-monetiz
e-memorabilia-put-museums-on-guard.html?emc=eta1> An Artifact, or a Payday 

		


  <http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/spacer.gif>
<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_remote.html?type=noscript&page=emailthis
.nytimes.com/openrate&posall=Bottom1&pos=Bottom1&query=qstring&keywords=> An
Artifact, or a Payday


By TIM SULLIVAN


Published: July 21, 2012 


After nearly half a century as a museum's priceless artifact, the Yankees
uniform that Don Larsen wore while pitching the only World Series perfect
game will soon have a price. 

Though administrators at the museum, the San Diego Hall of Champions,
believed the historic pinstripes were a gift rather than a loan, its former
president, Al Kidd, said they lacked both the paperwork to prove it and the
inclination to contest ownership. When Larsen decided to reclaim the uniform
he had entrusted to the hall around the time of his 1964 induction,
management put up no more of a fight than the Brooklyn Dodgers did on Oct.
8, 1956. 

"I felt I wanted to do something with it," said Larsen, who will turn 83 in
August and plans to auction the uniform this fall. "I'm not getting any
younger." 

Given the potential seven-figure proceeds from the sale, other athletes
whose salaries never approached that may wonder whether they have a windfall
waiting behind panes of museum glass. The Larsen case could also have broad
implications for museums in possession of items of significant value but no
conclusive proof of ownership. The curator of one prominent sports museum
said he was reluctant to address the subject for fear that donors might seek
to monetize their memorabilia. 

"Unfortunately, it happens from time to time - too often, really," said the
museum consultant John E. Simmons, whose book "Things Great and Small"
endeavors to standardize collections management policy. "It happens in the
world of art, too. It almost always happens with an item of a high dollar
value." 

He added: "I don't think the museum has an obligation to the family of the
owner generations later. If there's no good record of the gift, the museum
should consider giving it back to the family." 

But the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto has dug in its skates, refusing to
return the USA sweaters of the only father-and-son Olympians to win gold
medals in the same Winter Olympic sport, Bill Christian in 1964 and Dave
Christian in 1980. 

As recently as 20 years ago, Simmons said, memorabilia was commonly accepted
on a handshake. Marie Malaro, formerly the legal adviser to the Smithsonian,
said the absence of professional record-keeping remained a thorny issue for
museums. 

The San Diego Hall of Champions houses the Breitbard Hall of Fame, each
established in the 1950s by Bob Breitbard, a boyhood friend of Ted
Williams's. The museum was typical of its time in accepting donations
informally. But Breitbard's lack of formal accession procedures left his
institution vulnerable to a 2006 legal challenge by Claudia Williams, Ted's
daughter. 

She filed suit in San Diego County Superior Court seeking the return of
several mementos of her father's baseball career, notably his 1946 and 1949
Most Valuable Player awards and his 1991 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Through mediation, Claudia Williams reacquired the M.V.P. awards but agreed
to leave the Medal of Freedom on display at the museum. The 1949 M.V.P.
plaque sold for $299,000 during an April auction at Fenway Park. 

Larsen's request for the return of his uniform did not reach the courts in
part because he has been a loyal supporter of the museum. As compensation
for the uniform, he presented the Hall of Champions with three items: a
signed jersey from the Yankees' 2006 Old-Timers' Day, a limited-edition
crystal trophy commemorating the perfect game, and a photograph signed by
him and Yogi Berra, his catcher for the perfect game. 

The loss of precious pieces has prompted the museum to take steps to protect
its collections for posterity. In a statement, its new president, Denise
Cooper, said, "The San Diego Hall of Champions recognizes the value in donor
contributions and strives to maintain excellent practices with respect to
memorabilia acquisition, retention and loan agreements to best enhance our
museum." 

That means, primarily, that documents meant to clarify intent and consent
are binding forever. 

"What most museums do is that there's always a clear line of provenance -
where it came from, how it was obtained, and then legal paperwork to
indicate ownership," said Joe Horrigan, a vice president for communications
at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. 

"In case of donation, you always want to have a strong paper trail." 

The Hockey Hall of Fame's standard agreement, adopted years after it
acquired the Christians' sweaters, requires donors to renounce all rights,
title and interest in an object "absolutely, unconditionally and forever." 

"We don't take loaned artifacts," said Kelly Masse, the hockey Hall's
spokeswoman. "It's not something we do. Our artifacts are all donated." 

At the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., the acquisitions policy
is slightly less stringent. It accepts certain items on loan if a particular
exhibit is short on alternative artifacts. 

"The lifeblood of any museum is its collections," said Jeff Idelson, the
president of the Hall. "Our policy is that artifacts that we acquire are
donated. We have some items that are on loan, and the only time we have an
interest in accepting a loan item is when we can't tell a story because we
don't have anything to tell the story." 

A prominent example is the glove Willie Mays used to make his famous
back-to-the-plate catch in the 1954 World Series. It has been on loan to
Cooperstown since 1992. 

But the cap Bobby Thomson wore when his 1951 playoff home run clinched the
National League pennant for the New York Giants, which had been in the
museum's care for more than 27 years, was returned to its owner. In May, it
was auctioned for more than $173,000. 

Though much of its permanent collection is not on exhibit, the baseball Hall
pledges to care for those items it accepts in perpetuity. Other museums
sometimes sell objects from their collections and reinvest the proceeds in
new acquisitions, as industry ethicists recommend, or to pay operating
expenses. 

A spokesman for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in
Springfield, Mass., citing that museum's emphasis on relationships as
opposed to objects, said it had returned at least two items at the request
of donors or their families, one of them a uniform of the referee Earl
Strom, who died in 1994. 

"In the marketplace, it's considered memorabilia," said Brad Horn, the
senior director of communications and education with the baseball Hall. "In
our world, it's considered artifacts." 

He added: "The ability for the Hall to educate its donors on the life cycle
of the artifact is critically important. Unfortunately, you're dealing with
items where individuals pass on, mental capacity changes, and relatives want
to step in." 

For athletes who retired decades ago like Larsen, significant souvenirs can
be worth many times their career earnings. According to an incomplete
database at Baseball-Reference.com, Larsen's major league salary may have
peaked at $20,000 in 1965. But the value of his uniform has risen sharply.
Brandon Steiner, whose sports marketing company will conduct the 56-day
auction beginning Oct. 8, the 56th anniversary of Larsen's perfect game,
said it could sell for "close to a million." 

Steiner added: "It's special. It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation. It's not
like it's going to happen again, a perfect game in the World Series." 

Dan Imler, the managing director of SCP Auctions, estimated the uniform's
value at $200,000 to $250,000. 

"Lately there's been such euphoria with really high-end, iconic pieces," he
said, adding, "I've been proven to be conservative in recent times." 

The best comparable piece, Imler said, was Berra's perfect-game uniform,
which sold at auction for $565,000. 

"Obviously, Yogi's a Hall of Famer and fits into some other collecting
categories," Imler said. "Larsen is known for this feat, one of the great
single-game performances in baseball history." 

Andrew Levy, who is representing Larsen, said he would be willing to pay
$250,000 for the uniform based on the offers he had received. Scott Stimell,
who owns a Long Island memorabilia business called Cardboard Memories, said
he expected the uniform to sell for "north of $500,000." 

He added: "You're going to have somebody who has to have it; it's the only
one. In the baseball memorabilia world, in the Yankee world, it means a lot.
I really believe you're going to see a bidding war, and this is going to
wind up at someone's home for $1.5 million." 

Larsen has declined to predict what the uniform will fetch but says he plans
to use the proceeds to pay for his grandsons' college education. 

"If anything's left over," he said, "maybe I'll take a trip."

So keep trying to get those deeds of gift signed!!

Regards, 

Meg  

.   _  _  _  _  _  _  _   _ _   ___________     

Margaret E. Geiss-Mooney     

Textile/Costume Conservator &    

Collections Management Consultant       

Professional Associate - AIC     

707-763-8694     

[log in to unmask]   

 


=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).