Re: the "standoff" at the Corcoran.

For those who may not have seen the news this morning, the Romanoff
collection, which contains family jewels (don't laugh) is held up from
leaving for Houston by two Russian diplomatic vehicles.  The Van
(McCollister's) is still parked at the Corcoran in Washington, DC.  The
Russians want the jewels returned to Russia, or, (as I understand it) a
larger cut of fees paid by host museums on the tour.  My analysis may be
incorrect, as it is based only on TV news thus far.

The jewels are still in the Corcoran vault, and the moving van contains
only the paintings, manuscripts, and cases.  I suppose this has been
considered, but what of the possibility of moving the cases, paintings,
etc. off the truck and back into the museum.  Is it a problem to move them
back in?  As a former registrar (9 years) I know the hassle of moving a
collection from a truck to a museum WITH a loading dock.  I don't believe
the Corcoran has a dock, which is more of a pain.   Nevertheless, I'd
rather see the works back in the museum than on the truck, climate
controlled as it might be.  Barring any diplomatic obsticles, shouldn't
this be done?.

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but can I assume that we'll hear more
about this and its repurcussions next week?

Cheers,
HBC

*****************************************
Henry B. Crawford        Curator of History
[log in to unmask]     Museum of Texas Tech University
806/742-2442           Box 43191
FAX 742-1136             Lubbock, TX  79409-3191
*******   Life is a trip. Enjoy the ride!   ***********