WHAT IS THE KEELER ROOKIE

[Archive]

Posted By: Jay Miller

I think it is necessary to respond to Mr. Counter's comments. I mentioned earlier that after I handed over my cards for consignment I was told by one of the Mastro representatives, in passing, that they would clean up the cabinet. I didn't give the comment much thought and never responded. My lack of response was undoubtedly taken as my agreement as the next time I saw, or heard of the cabinet, it was when I got the catalog. Thinking back when "cleaning up" was mentioned I guess I would have assumed that this meant trying to remove the glue on the front. After my post this morning began generating questions about whether the cabinet had been restored beyond repairing the pinholes I called Kevin Struss, who was one of the people who picked up the consignment, and asked him if there was any other restoration beyond the pinhole repair. He was in transit to Chicago for the auction but later Doug Allen called me back. He talked to the outside conservator and then examined the cabinet under a black light. He related that the cabinet's only restoration was the pinhole repair and, at that time, he made the addition to the lot's description. I'm not sure why you are attacking me. I'm also not sure why making comments about my use of capital letters or my financial resources have any relevance to the discussion. Personally, I see no problem removing glue and pencil marks from a cabinet. I think this is cleaning not restoring. If you think otherwise then we can just agree to disagree. Repairing pinholes is restoration and needs to be disclosed. I don't know how you deacidify paper but I seriously doubt that it would involve removing the photo. Should that also be disclosed--I don't know, couldn't hurt. According to Andy's post, bidders have been notified about what has been done to the cabinet. If you intended to bid and choose not to now that is your choice. Whether this impairs the final realization on the lot I don't know. I'm not sure what else I can add but if you would like to discuss it further please email me at curl777@aol.com.