Antique motorcycle expected to break world record price at auction…
It is a bike whose inventor was once arrested for riding it but later released when police couldn't work out what crime he had committed.
And with a record like that it's not hard to see why it didn't catch on.
Now though this steam powered motorcycle is set to enter the record books, as the most expensive bike ever to be sold at auction.
The 117-year-old 'Roper Steam Powered Motorcycle' was designed by Sylvester Roper and is now expected to reach £325,000 when it is sold in Las Vegas in January.
Under the hammer: This steam powered motorcycle designed by Sylvester Roper is to be auctioned in the New Year and is expected to fetch £325,000
Enthusiasts from across the globe are expected to bid for the machine which had a top speed of 40mph and consisted of a boiler, steam engine stuck onto a hickory velocipede bicycle frame.
Roper connected the piston rods to cranks on the rear wheel axle and the solid wheels made for a very uncomfortable ride.
It also appeared that the machine was dangerous - as Roper actually died while riding it during 1896.
The bike worked by using a firebox and boiler suspended on springs from the frame between the wheels.
A charcoal fire heated the water to generate steam to power the engine. The exhaust steam was carried by tubing into a chimney behind the saddle.
Water was supplied from a reservoir that was part of the seat using a feed-water pump operated by the left-cylinder crank.
The rider could accelerate by turning the grip on the handles that acted as the throttle - in the same way as modern motorbikes.
Rudimentary: The piston rods connected to a crank on the rear wheel axle and the solid wheels made for a very uncomfortable ride
Following Roper's death the bike went through a number of owners who displayed it to the public until it was bought by its current owner in 1996.
Glenn Bator, head of Auctions America by RM's Vintage Motorcycle Division, said: 'Roper built two steam motorcycles and this one dates from 1894.
'Both of them exist and the other, earlier one that was based on a boneshaker cycle, is in the Smithsonian museum.
'At the time the internal combustion engine was in its infancy so no one knew that steam wasn't the way forward.
'When Roper invented his machine the word motorcycle hadn't even been conceived. It is amazing the machine has survived for this long.
Modern way: The rider of the 'Roper Steam Powered Motorcycle' could accelerate by turning the grip on the handles that acted as the throttle - in the same way as today
'Not only was it one of the very first motorcycles, but it was involved in the first ever motorcycle accident.
'Roper came off the bike and died and although it was shown he died from a heart attack it is not known whether he had it before or after he came off.
'The bike is still in working order and although the present owner hasn't sued steam, he has put pressure in it and the piston still works.
'It really was like riding with a locomotive between the legs just hoping it doesn't blow up.
'It is a significant piece of Americana and arguably one of the world's most important motorcycles.'
The current world record for a motorbike sold at auction is held by a 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer. The bike sold for £300,000 in 2008.
‘Dear drummer… Come in for a Beatles audition. Sincerely, Paul’…
...: Letter from McCartney up for auction
The young musician looking for work wouldn’t have known it at the time, but he had just been offered a ticket to fame, fortune and a place in rock legend.
He was invited by a teenage Paul McCartney to audition for the Beatles as their drummer - surely one of the greatest pop opportunities of all time.
But it would seem he missed his moment.
The story of the unlucky drummer has emerged thanks to a letter from McCartney found inside a book at a car boot sale in Liverpool.
It dates back to August 12, 1960 – a time when the fledgling Beatles, under first manager Allan Williams, were preparing to tour Hamburg.
Days before they were due to depart, the band’s four members – McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist – were lacking one thing: a drummer.
By coincidence, a young musician was looking for work and had put an ad in the Liverpool Echo on August 8, reading: ‘Drummer - Young - Free.’
In the newly discovered letter, 18-year-old McCartney replies to the ad: ‘Dear Sir…we would like to offer you an audition for the position of drummer.
‘You will, however, need to be free soon for a trip to Hamburg (expenses paid £18 per week (approx) for 2 months).’ He signs off: ‘Yours sincerely Paul McCartney of THE BEATLES.’
It is not known if an audition ever took place or the prospective drummer just didn’t make the grade.
But it has been suggested drummer Pete Best was auditioned that very evening of August 12 and offered the job.
It was always thought that Best, whom the group saw play originally at the Casbah Coffee Club, was the first-choice drummer.
However it is now clear the band were still deliberating over who should fill the post.
In 1962, as the band began to taste success, Best was fired and replaced by Ringo Starr. The handwritten letter is expected to fetch £9,000 when it is auctioned at the saleroom at Christie’s on November 15.
It is believed to be one of the earliest examples of the band calling themselves the Beatles – previously they had been known as The Quarrymen.
Source: Daily Mail
Mermaid for sale: Bizarre 19th century creature that is actually half monkey and half fish
A bizarre stuffed animal purporting to be a mermaid that was brought to Britain from the Far East in the 19th century has emerged.
Made from fish and monkey parts, the odd-looking creature was one of many acquired by British sailors whose minds were tricked or amused by them.
The parts were cleverly stuck together and gave the impression it was once a genuine life form.
Few of these objects survive today but this extraordinary 12 inch long example has now emerged for sale at a saleroom in London for £2,500.
In the 19th century, gentlemen had cabinets full of curiosities and exotic items such as this and apparently there is still a market for them. The mermaid is placed on a wooden plinth in a swimming pose with its arms and hands outstretched, its large eyes staring ahead and a smile on its face.
It has a tail fin, dorsal fin and anal fin with a human-looking face and thin arms leading to hands from which the webbing has fallen off. There even appears to be hair on its head but there are no obvious anatomical clues as to its supposed sex.
The mermaid is being sold by Charles Miller auctions in London on October 26. Mr Miller said: 'It's a very odd thing, pretty hideous really. They were brought back by sailors from the Orient.
'They were made out there and back home they either fooled people into thinking they were real animals, or they just entertained them. Nobody is really sure.
'Gentlemen of the day would have had cabinets full of curiosities and these would have been excellent talking points.
'This has been consigned through a private collector and hopefully there will be buyer out thee for it.
'People still like a talking point and while gentlemen might not have cabinets full of these things, hopefully there will be a place for it somewhere.'
Source: Daily Mail
Rogue art teacher-turned-dealer who duped galleries…
...into buying fake paintings worth £180,000 is jailed
- Dealer told galleries his father gifted the fine art to him
- Police found copies of Picasso, Bacon and Freud in his third floor art studio
- One LS Lowrie fake sold for £35,000 while Sotheby's demanded a £65,000 refund
A rogue art dealer who conned galleries across Britain with fine art fakes worth £180,000 has been jailed.
Rizvan Rahman sold more than 30 forgeries in an elaborate scam which saw him pass off paintings purportedly by world famous artists including matchstick men painter LS Lowrie.
He sold one Lowrie rip-off for £35,000 and 13 paintings imitating work by Mary Fedden, one of Britain's greatest living artists.
Raham, 40, told galleries that he had been given the paintings by his father or had bought them for his private collection, Leicester Crown Court heard today.
The court was also told that when they were uncovered as fakes he would feign surprise and refund the gallery.
However even after refunds had been taken into account the teacher-turned-fake-dealer was more than £60,000 better off.
Police raided the once respected art teacher's home and third floor studio in the leafy suburb of Stoneygate, Leicester, in December 2009 and seized 19 paintings from a collection of 168.
Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, said: 'Between January 2008 and October 2009, Rahman defrauded galleries and members of the public by selling paintings he falsely claimed were genuine and original works of art.
'His motive was to make money at the expense of innocent purchasers and the amount involved was £179,450.
'When some of the frauds were discovered he would express surprise and refund the gallery involved.
'Taking refunds into account his net profit was at least £61,950.'
He added that 30 fakes had been sold through well known auction houses and respected galleries across Britain.
The 40-year-old kept literature entitled Confessions of a Master Forger and The Art Forger's Handbook at his home - but maintains he didn't paint the fakes himself.
When interviewed by police the married father of three admitted that respected auction house Sothebys was pursuing him for a refund for the sale of a £65,000 George Leslie Hunter work. He was not prosecuted for this.
He explained the paintings in the style of world famous artists Picasso, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon at his home were decorative items he bought for £80.
Mr Aspden added: 'The defendant had been dealing in fake works of art on a significant scale.'
Rahman sold 13 forgeries of work by Mary Fedden, described in court as one Britain's greatest living artists, whose Royal College of Art pupils included a young David Hockney. Now in her 90s, she was shown one of the fakes.
'She was less than impressed by the forger's work, saying it was a very bad painting,' Mr Aspden said.
Owners of galleries all over the country including Cornwall, London and Uppingham, Leicestershire, were initially taken in by the defendant, but soon became suspicious.
Rahman now faces a proceeds of crime hearing to seize his assets and faces losing his home in the affluent area characterised by expensive Victorian properties.
Steven Newcombe, defending, said Rahman repaid most of the cash as soon as there was a complaint.
He set up his art dealing business in 2004 and made many genuine sales adding: 'It wasn't fraudulent from the outset.'
Rahman, who traded under the name of Haslam and Purdy, admitted two counts of fraudulent trading, eight counts of selling false works and two of possessing articles (documents) for use in fraud. He was jailed for 18 months.
Monet as you never saw him draw before – because customs officials seized his oils
This stunning view of London's Waterloo Bridge is on sale for over a million pounds - and it only exists because Claude Monet's paints were seized by customs officials.
The French impressionist travelled to England in 1901, but was forced to buy some pastels after his equipment was taken at the port.
He hadn't used the medium for some years but sitting on the balcony of room 618 at London's Savoy Hotel he began to create 26 works of art.
At first he wrote to his wife from his sixth floor room and stated that he 'tried in vain to make some sketches in pastel.'
But after a few days he had changed his tune and wrote: 'This amuses me a lot, even though I'm no longer accustomed to it, it occupies me and might be useful.'
Of the 26 pastel works from this period, only one is currently on the market.
It shows the bridge through the fog with a barge in the foreground and chimneys in the distance.
After a week his oil paints and brushes arrived and he set about completing his series of Westminster that he had planned for his visit.
But he later said that working with the pastels in London that week had been a valuable experience and helped his later career.
Works by Monet in pastel on paper are very rare - there are just over 100 known to exist - and the subject matter on the Thames makes this one hugely desirable.
This painting is being shown in several exhibitions in the U.S. and is being sold by London's Trinity House dealers.
Simon Shore, from Trinity House, said: 'Monet came over in January 1901, but all his materials were held up at customs.
'He was annoyed but went to a shop in Charing Cross and bought some pastels and sat on the balcony and drew Waterloo Bridge and Charing Cross Bridge.
'He hadn't used pastels for some time but later said how important that week using them had been.
'He enjoyed the light coming through the fog, but others who were there couldn't see what he was describing.
'He produced 26 works in pastel at this time and this is the only one currently available on the market.
'It was in a collection in Switzerland until 1947 and is now to be shown at the Milwaukee art museum in the U.S. and at our own exhibition in Manhattan.
'The scene shows the bridge and chimneys in the background that were used to produce lead shot.
'It is a very important picture and has commercial appeal because it is by Monet and it is of London.
'Monet is one of the most important artists of all time and his art has never decreased in value so it is a good investment.
'And people are looking to invest in art because other areas are just not attractive.'
Source: Daily Mail Website
‘A collector’s dream’: Titanic deck plan that belonged to wealthiest couple aboard doomed ship set to fetch £50,000 at auction
A rare Titanic deck plan owned by an elderly couple in first class who died when the doomed liner sank is set to sell at auction £50,000
Ida and Isidore Straus drowned side by side after Mrs Straus refused a place on a lifeboat to remain with her husband - a scene iconically depicted in the 1997 Titanic film.
The deck plans were only handed out to the 324 first class passengers when they arrived on the ship in Southampton on April 10, 1912.
It is believed only three of them from the ship exist today, with two in private collections and this one now on the open market. Witness accounts stated the plan's owners sat on deckchairs and held hands until they were washed into the sea as the Titanic sank.
In the Hollywood blockbuster, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, artistic licence was used to show the devoted couple cuddling up together on their bed. In the emotive scene, Mr Straus gives his wife a kiss on the cheek while their stateroom floods.
The plan was in the possession of the Straus' maid Ellen Bird who survived the disaster in which 1,495 people were lost. She kept hold of the 41x29in document for the rest of her life and it has now been put up for auction by the current private owner.
Andrew Aldridge, of auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son of Devizes, Wilts, which is selling the plan said: 'This represents the zenith of collectables pertaining to Titanic.
'Isadore Straus was one of the wealthiest people on the ship and original material relating to his and his party's time on board Titanic is practically non-existant.
'To have something directly related to Straus which was on the ship is a collector's dream.
'The Straus' were barely featured in the 1997 movie apart from the very brief but very iconic shot of them lying in bed side by side just as the ship begins to sink.
Mr Straus, 63, was a wealthy businessman who owned the Macey's department store in New York.
He and his family were returning to America on Titanic following a holiday in Europe.
Their 15-year-old granddaughter Beatrice holidayed with them but stayed on in Germany. After the 45,000 ton liner struck an iceberg at 11.40pm on April 14, in the north Atlantic many first class passengers were helped into lifeboats.
At first Mrs Straus, 63, joined Mrs Bird in lifeboat eight before getting out to be with her husband, reportedly saying: 'We have lived together for many years. Where you go, I go.'
Her body was never recovered unlike that of her husband. His last listed effects included black silk socks, gold watch, silver flask and £40 in notes. Miss Bird, who was from Old Buckingham, Norfolk, died in Rhose Island in 1949 aged 68. The auction takes place in Devizes on Saturday, October 29.
Source: Daily Mail Website
Eureka! 1,000-year-old text by Greek maths genius Archimedes goes on display…
It arrived in tatters - but after a decade of delicate restoration Archimedes' oldest surviving work is now on display.
The 1,000-year-old Archimedes Palimpsest - which was bought at auction by an anonymous buyer for $2 million in 1998 - is being showcased at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.
The 'Lost and Found: The Secrets of Archimedes' exhibition tells the story of the text, and the work of dozens of scientists and scholars who uncovered its secrets.
Archimedes Project director Will Noel said that when the manuscript sold in 1998 it was known to contain some of the Greek maths genius' most famous theories.
He added: 'People were skeptical that we would find anything else. Now, this is a chance for the public to see the Archimedes Palimpsest in all its glory.'
The script, given its name because it has been written on more than once after the original writing has been scraped or rubbed off, was 'in bits' when it arrived at the museum more than 12 years ago.
Scholars believe a 10th-century scribe copied the text from Archimedes' original Greek scrolls. But 200 years later, in Jerusalem in 1229 AD, it was erased and overwritten with a prayer book by a priest called Johannes Myronas.
Mr Noel said the initial 'defacing' of the book may have proved vital to its persistence. He said 'I feel pretty good about Johannes Myronas' of the scribe whose name was uncovered by x-ray beams on the first page.
He added: 'If he did not create this prayer book, there was no other way it would have survived. Because of its Christian disguise it was not neglected.'
The prayer book was cared for through the centuries until 1844 when it was found in a Constantinople convent's collection.
In 1906, Johan Ludwig Heiberg recognised the text contained previously unknown works by Archimedes and created a new edition of his works.
The manuscript then disappeared for decades and resurfaced in France, where researchers believe a collector commissioned forgery paintings over the text after 1938.
In 2000 a project was begun by a team of experts at the Walters Art Museum to read the erased texts.
By the time they had finished, they had recovered Archimedes' secrets, rewritten the history of mathematics and discovered entirely new texts from the ancient world.
Archimedes is known for engineering feats, such as water pumps and catapults, and his mathematical writings.
But he's also immortalized in the exclamation 'Eureka!' (I have found it!), which he was said to proclaim after making a discovery about water displacement while in the bath.
The script will be returned to its anonymous owner after the exhibition closes on January 1.
That’s a bargain! Hugh Hefner’s runaway bride Crystal Harris sells $90,000 engagement ring… for half price
It was a symbol of love from her former fiance Hugh Hefner.
But runaway bride Crystal Harris has raked in $38,000 after putting her 3.39 carat diamond ring up for auction.
It is a far cry from the $90,000 her former lover paid for the piece of jewellry less than a year ago.
With taxes and fees, the final bill for the mystery buyer was $47,500.
Amazingly however the infamous ring actually exceeded auctioneer expectations, as it was only expected to raise between $20,000 and $30,000.
Crystal, 25, sold the item in the saleroom today at an auction at Christie's in New York.
A source who spoke to TMZ said: '[Crystal] couldn't bear to look at the ring anymore because it brought back bad memories.'
Hefner has so far yet to comment on the sale.
It was only a few months ago when Crystal halted wedding plans just days before the couple were due to tie the knot.
Within weeks she'd reportedly visited a jeweller to get the ring valued.
Crystal had the ring priced at Prospect Jewellers in La Jolla, California, near San Diego reported U.S. website TMZ in June.
When the owner of the store asked for information on the jewels such as cut and clarity, Crystal was clueless.
A call to the Playboy Mansion did not shed any light on the matter so she left after a fruitless mission.
TMZ reported that when the jewellery shop owner told Crystal he was sorry to hear about Hefner, she replied, 'Are you kidding? It was all for publicity.'
Crystal reportedly had good intentions to return the valuable ring after she called off the wedding.
After a party weekend at Sin City's Wet Republic with reality stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt the week before the valuation, Crystal returned to the Playboy Mansion to return the ring to Hefner, according to Radar, but he told her to keep it.
As well as her expensive ring, Crystal was also allowed to keep a Bentley, another gift from the ageing bachelor.
Despite her unusual behaviour since the break up, Crystal stands by her decision not to walk down the aisle with Hefner.
'I just knew when it was getting close it wasn't fair to [Hefner] and wasn't fair to go through with it. I wanted to be true to myself and be true to what was best for everybody,' she said, according to People Magazine.
Were five stolen masterpieces worth £400m crushed in rubbish truck after ‘art heist of the century’?
Five world-famous paintings including ones by Picasso and Matisse worth up to £400million were crushed in a rubbish truck after being stolen, it has been claimed.
The masterpieces were all part of record-breaking haul from one of Paris's most prestigious galleries which was described by police as the 'Art Heist of the Century'.
If the claims - made by an underworld figure allegedly involved in the crime - prove true, then it will be one of the biggest catastrophes in the history of art.
Dove with Green Peas' by Pablo Picasso: The masterpieces were all part of record-breaking haul from one of Paris's most prestigious galleries which was described by police as the 'Art Heist of the Century'
In May last year a single 'cat-burglar' broke into the city's Museum of Modern Art, close to the Eiffel Tower, and got away with five pieces after cutting them from their frames.
Sleeping guards and a faulty alarm system failed to stop the hooded man as he made off with Dove with Green Peas by Pablo Picasso (1911), Pastoral by Henri Matisse (1906), Olive Tree near l'Estaque by Georges Braque (1906), Woman with Fan by Amedeo Modigliani (1919) and Still Life with Candlestick by Fernand Leger (1922).
The raid immediately leapt into crime folklore, with specialist police forces and private detective firms around the globe uniting to try and retrieve the paintings.
Painting of a 'Pastoral' by Henri Matisse: In May last year a single 'cat-burglar' broke into the city's Museum of Modern Art and got away with five pieces after cutting them from their frames
Painting of a 'Olive Tree' by Georges Braque: It took officers more than a year before placing three men - the alleged thief and two accomplices - under official investigation, but all the paintings remain missing
It took officers from the Serious Crime Brigade more than a year before placing three men - the alleged thief and two accomplices - under official investigation, but all the paintings remain missing.
Two unnamed men were finally arrested five months ago but, as soon as this happened, a third tried to destroy the evidence.
Identified as Jonathan B, a 34-year-old watch repairer, he told detectives that he 'panicked and destroyed the canvasses before throwing them into a rubbish bin.'
They then ended up in a crushing lorry and were destroyed beyond recognition, he claimed.
The first man to be arrested in May was a 43-year-old Serb 'art lover' known only as Vrejan T.
Nicknamed 'Spiderman', he was being held in connection with another art theft from a private flat in Paris.
Vrejan T. has already described in great detail how he got into the Modern Art Museum, which is housed in the Tokyo Palace in Paris, by loosening screws to a window during the day, and then returning late at night to get in.
Carrying tools to break padlocks and iron grille, he initially intended to steal a single Leger, but was pleasantly surprised when the burglar alarm did not go off.
For up to an hour, Vrejan T. managed to evade 30 CCTV cameras, while helping himself to his favourite works.
'He found the Modigliani the most beautiful of all,' a judicial source told the Journal Du Dimanche newspaper in Paris.
The third man in custody is Jean-Michel C., a 56-year-old Paris art dealer, who is said to have tried to sell other stolen works.
Painting of a 'Still Life with Candlestick' by Fernand Leger: Vrejan T who was one of the men arrested for the heist claimed he initially planned just to take the Leger but took more after the alrm failed to go off
In an apparent classic example of the way criminals end up turning on each other, Vrejan T. is said to have reported Jean-Michel C. after he failed to receive some £36,000 for the Leger.
Police said they remained wary of the men's claims, but confirmed that they could 'not completely rule them out.'
The Museum of Modern Art has been a Paris landmark since it opened in 1961, and was considered one of the most secure in Europe.
Until the raid last May, the biggest unsolved art theft was one on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990.
Then, thieves disguised as police talked their way into the museum before handcuffing security guards and stealing 13 works of art valued at over $500 million.
The paintings have never been found.
Source: Daily Mail
The X Tractor: Steam fan takes 19 years to rebuild ruined vintage vehicle he found in Australia… but now it’s worth £250k
A dilapidated steam tractor that caught his eye in Australia led to a two-decade-long labour of love for David Maris - but it could now net him a substantial amount of money.
The eagle-eyed enthusiast fell in love with the vintage 1926 Super Sentinel after spotting it rusting away in a field while on holiday down under in 1992.
Besotted with its beauty, he quickly bought it and set about shipping the remains half way round the world back to England in a process that took 14 years.
And having finally finished the complicated rebuild the 61-year-old now has one of only two left in the world - with similar engines valued at more than £250,000.
He said: 'I knew it was a rare find. All that was left was the chassis and four wheels but I had to have it.
'I paid a substantial amount for the tractor but it took 14 years for it to be shipped to my home because of various problems.
'I remember picking up the phone at two in the morning and being told the tractor was on its way. I celebrated by getting up and having a glass of whisky.
'I couldn't wait to get started on it but there was only about 40 per cent of the tractor to work on. I have had four steam engines in the past and I just love working on them.
'I had a problem finding parts to rebuild the tractor but through contacts I managed to find some parts and what I couldn't find I made myself.
'I spent every spare minute on the project but when I finished I felt a great sense of achievement.
'There are just two of these vehicles left in the world, there's mine in my back yard and the other one is in a museum in South Africa and doesn't move.'
The 18 ft long tractor weighs seven tonnes and has a maximum speed of 12 mph. It runs on coal which costs £200 a tonne and holds 230 gallons of water.
Mr Maris added: 'The tractor was made in Shrewsbury and managed to survive while others were scrapped.
'I am not prepared to say how much it is worth but it is considerable. A steam powered traction engine was recently sold at auction for £264,000. I take it to shows all over the country and people love it.
'I recently won an award for the best steam tractor at the The Great Dorset Steam Fair, which is the biggest fair of its kind in the world.'