Looting of Detroit's antiquities

Michigan · June-30-10, 04:58 PM

C of D should create an office of antiquities and begin to reclaim the art and architecture looted from the city. A single tour of Chicago should yeild significant reclamations. This will encourage other criminals to come forward with their "salvaged" items before the city office of antiquities brought their actions to light.

WHy does the Louvre have Pewabic Pottery in it when Detroiters can not see many of their own installations of this homegrown master work?

Retroit · June-30-10, 05:19 PM

If the police department is not able to go after all the thieves in the city, I don't think we should expect the city to go after fancy tiles in France. Ideally yes, realistically no.

**Kathleen** · June-30-10, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Michigan

Why does the Louvre have Pewabic Pottery in it when Detroiters can not see many of their own installations of this homegrown master work?

Sure, there are a lot of vintage Pewabic tile installations in private homes and private institutions with limited public access, but there are still a great many public Pewabic installations:
http://www.pewabic.com/tile-installations.htm

Are you thinking of any particular installations that are not ever accessible to the public?

LodgeDodger · June-30-10, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by Kathleen

Sure, there are a lot of vintage Pewabic tile installations in private homes and private institutions with limited public access, but there are still a great many public Pewabic installations:
http://www.pewabic.com/tile-installations.htm

Are you thinking of any particular installations that are not ever accessible to the public?

My bathroom. Although, if he needed to, he could use our bathroom.

neighbor · June-30-10, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by Michigan

C of D should create an office of antiquities and begin to reclaim the art and architecture looted from the city. A single tour of Chicago should yeild significant reclamations. This will encourage other criminals to come forward with their "salvaged" items before the city office of antiquities brought their actions to light.

WHy does the Louvre have Pewabic Pottery in it when Detroiters can not see many of their own installations of this homegrown master work?

This is a great idea!!! Detroit has all kinds of money to create new departments.

**Gistok** · June-30-10, 07:25 PM

I want the Peacock Room back!!

We need to go to the Freer Gallery in Washington DC and "repatriate" James MacNeil Whistler's oriental masterpiece Peacock Room and all of its' ceramics... to be reinstalled in Charles Lang Freer's original residence [[Freer House) next to the Hecker-Smiley mansion.... [[or maybe the next block over at the DIA)...

Maybe someone can make a legal cause that Freer was mentally unbalanced when he wrote his will leaving all his artwork to the Smithsonian....

**1KielsonDrive** · June-30-10, 07:25 PM

They're almost all gone.

**Al Publican** · June-30-10, 08:22 PM

I raised the issue here some years ago about an historic marker missing from the westside of the Detroit Fire Dept apparatus repair shop building. It noted that that site on Rivard and Riopelle was once an Army horse stable where U.S. Grant served in the 1850s. I reported to the Detroit Historical Society, but they claimed they have no record of the brass plate marker. If you go to the Roma Cafe, look on the corner of the apparatus shop. You should be able to see the bolt holes where the plague was.

**detroitbob** · July-01-10, 03:04 AM

Freer was, supposedly, p/offed over the sale of the land the current DIA sits on by J. L. Hudson Sr. to the Arts Commission circa 1910 for what Freer considered an inflated price and the politics involved with the early planning for a new museum. By his death in 1919 he had decided to fund and dontate his collection to Washington DC. There was a similar problem with other folks over other J L Hudson owned land that was sold to entities for "civic purposes" . Supposedly Hudson owned part of or all of the Fairgrounds. I'm not sure if there is any deed restrictions for that Fairground land, i.e it must be used as the fairgrounds or...

Does anyone know anything?

Michigan · July-01-10, 07:13 AM

So a lot of this is Hudson's fault? Well I for one am glad that they knocked down his building and took away his store's name. He doesn't deserve to be honored in this town after what he's done.

**slick** · July-01-10, 10:13 AM

The cops are protecting vacant fields.
Not property
The Cops kicked us off the field at Tiger stadium yesterday

Retroit · July-01-10, 10:43 AM

Just for future reference [[and not to be a prick), but "antiquities" should be used to refer to ancient times or former ages, specifically those prior to the Middle Ages. "Antiques" would be a better term, as it refers to a more general past, specifically prior to the modern era [[or 25 years for cars).

If there are any antiquities in Detroit, they were looted from another place.

Michigan · July-01-10, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Retroit

Just for future reference [[and not to be a prick), but "antiquities" should be used to refer to ancient times or former ages, specifically those prior to the Middle Ages. "Antiques" would be a better term, as it refers to a more general past, specifically prior to the modern era [[or 25 years for cars).

If there are any antiquities in Detroit, they were looted from another place.

THese are ancient times in Detroit, times that are never to be seen again. That makes these things antiquities in my book. The idea of a city office to go after these is to generate funds for the city in the same way that Greece and Italy and IRaq are doing. Get the items back or get paid for letting them stay where they are. This would generate jobs and income for Detroit.

**Wintersmommy** · July-01-10, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by Michigan

C of D should create an office of antiquities and begin to reclaim the art and architecture looted from the city. A single tour of Chicago should yeild significant reclamations. This will encourage other criminals to come forward with their "salvaged" items before the city office of antiquities brought their actions to light.

WHy does the Louvre have Pewabic Pottery in it when Detroiters can not see many of their own installations of this homegrown master work?

I am intrigued...what do they have and where ?

Retroit · July-01-10, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by Michigan

THese are ancient times in Detroit, times that are never to be seen again. That makes these things antiquities in my book. The idea of a city office to go after these is to generate funds for the city in the same way that Greece and Italy and IRaq are doing. Get the items back or get paid for letting them stay where they are. This would generate jobs and income for Detroit.

Either you are missing my point or I am completely incompetent at getting my point across. Greece, Italy, and Iraq have antiquities because people have been living in those places for thousands of years. Ancient implies very old, long ago, the distant past, specifically prior to the fall of the Roman Empire [[476A.D.).

Again it is not a big deal, just that if you are going to seriously propose this, you might want to get the terminology correct. If Detroit had an Office of Antiquities, it would not receive much credibility from the rest of the world.

Michigan · July-01-10, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by Wintersmommy

I am intrigued...what do they have and where ?

There are many on this site that would be happy to direct you to the photos of Detroit artifacts that have been "liberated" from decay in Detroit so that they can adorn buildings on the west side of our Great Lake!

Originally Posted by retroit

Either you are missing my point or I am completely incompetent at getting my point across. Greece, Italy, and Iraq have antiquities because people have been living in those places for thousands of years. Ancient implies very old, long ago, the distant past, specifically prior to the fall of the Roman Empire [[476A.D.).

Again it is not a big deal, just that if you are going to seriously propose this, you might want to get the terminology correct. If Detroit had an Office of Antiquities, it would not receive much credibility from the rest of the world.

I get your point! We are living in a world in flux, and so is our language. These items are the antiquities of our city of ruins and should remain here, viewed in the context of their creation and development. Not on some Rehabbed loft in Williamsburg. Who cares what the stuff shirt eggheads tell us we should call antiquities, the language, and the power, belongs to the people!

**kathy2trips** · July-07-10, 01:02 AM

I'll second that! Maybe the National Historic Trust or the state could get on board with this.

**papillonaquatique** · July-07-10, 01:51 AM

Originally Posted by Michigan

I get your point! We are living in a world in flux, and so is our language. These items are the antiquities of our city of ruins and should remain here, viewed in the context of their creation and development. Not on some Rehabbed loft in Williamsburg. Who cares what the stuff shirt eggheads tell us we should call antiquities, the language, and the power, belongs to the people!

Detroit is not old enough to have its antiques listed as antiquities but if the antiques it does have are being looted then they are not being given the chance to become antiquities.Preserving anything historical in the city will be well worth it in time.What we do now our great grandchildren and their great grandchildren will notice and recall so preservation is justified.