By ERIC C. RODENBERG
Antique Week Associate Editor ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Following a storm of controversy, the large urns that once graced Arlington Cemetery were pulled from the Jan. 29-30 public auction by The Potomack Co., and the consignor announced he was donating the historical pieces back to the cemetery.
The massive 9-foot urns, designed by the renowned Carrere and Hastings architectural firm, were erected 70 years ago, flanking the Memorial Amphitheater stage. They were an original piece of the amphitheater. The ornately carved pair of urns, featuring rams’ heads, snakes and eagles, had served as witness to most of the solemn official memorial ceremonies near the Tomb of the Unknowns throughout most of the 20th century.
The urns were to be part of the 800-lot sale of antique furniture and garden accessories from the collection of nationally-acclaimed designer Darryl Savage.
They had been publicly displayed and identified in Savage’s retail antique shop near Annapolis, Md. for around 15 years. He sold the contents of his retail antique shop and other inventory from his design company, DHS Designs, at auction in preparation for retirement.
He told AntiqueWeek at the time, he wasn’t clear on the exact provenance of the urns, only that he bought them from an unnamed antique dealer. He said he was the third or fourth person to own the urns since they were de-accessioned by the U.S. government in the early 1990s. Subsequent calls by AntiqueWeek to the Department of Army, who act as stewards of Arlington Cemetery, to obtain information on how such a public item ended up in private events proved futile.
“We are looking into this, but unfortunately, I don’t have anything for you yet,” wrote Kaitlin Horst, a public information officer with the U.S. Army. “I’ll be out until the end of the month … I apologize I’ve been completely unhelpful.”
Despite leaving e-mail contacts for two of her colleagues, messages to those individuals were not returned.
At the time, Savage was confident of his rights of ownership of the urns – and sections of the original balusters which were also pulled during the 1990 renovation.
“They’ve been constantly on display here,” he said. “It wasn’t like I was hiding them.
I’ve had the (Vice President Richard and Lynne) Cheneys in here, Laura Bush, Donald Rumsfeld … it’s not like I’ve been hiding them … hopefully it won’t be any problem.”
Savage said he paid a “substantial” sum for the urns. He had them priced at $125,000 in his shop. The auction estimates were between $20,000 and $40,000, he said.
However, some preservationists reacted negatively to hearing that such historically public items were in private hands.
“It’s alarming to see portions of our national legacy being sold off,” Robert Nieweg, director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s southern field office, told The Washington Post. “It raises some red flags for us, and we have some very significant concerns about the cemetery’s stewardship of this extraordinary piece.”
Meanwhile officials at the Army’s Contraction Division made a formal request to The Potomack Company that they postpone the auction for 30 days, citing a need for “further investigation to determine the current holder of legal title to the property.”
Upon receiving the request, Savage and officials at The Potomack Company decided, rather than postponing the sale, to cancel the auction of the Arlington lots altogether.
On Jan. 26, Savage officially donated the urns and balusters back to Arlington Cemetery.
“Ever since I purchased these beautiful pieces of art, I have hoped that they would some day be recognized for their cultural, historical and emotional significance,” Savage said in a Potomack press release. “I’m very happy the Army and Arlington Cemetery have expressed a desire to recover and display them at the cemetery museum for the whole country to enjoy and admire. It is my hope that this situation will bring more attention to the need to protect our country’s architectural legacy and heritage.”
For further information, call 703-684-4550 or go online to www.potomackcompany.com |
