August 28, 2003
Cellini saltcellar: ransom demanded
A blackmailer has sent a letter to an insurance company demanding £3.5 million for the return of a gold-plated sculpture stolen from a Vienna museum.From Ananova. Our report on the theft is here. The article refers to "porcelain powder", but the saltcellar does not contain porcelain. It is most likely that what was meant was powder from the enamel, and it is to be hoped that the "samples" were not scraped from the visible portions of the metalwork (the normally-hidden reverse portions may also be enameled, which is commonly done to equalize stress).Porcelain powder from the 16th century sculpture by Florentine master Benvenuto Cellini, which is valued at £35 million, was enclosed in the letter.
Police and the insurance company refused to comment, but reports in Austria said investigators found that 90% of the powder came from the sculpture.
UPDATE: The ransom report is also noted in the Art Newspaper:
An Austrian radio station, State Radio Austria, recently received a ransom letter for the salt which contained fragments of enamel scratched from its surface and a demand for €10 million. According to the radio station, the letter was sent by a middleman who knows where the salt is and blackmailers will be in contact with the museum’s insurance company in the near future.
Posted by David on August 28, 2003 11:07 PM
A pleasure to find your post. Sometimes 3:50 am brings illness that still allows for fascinating finds on the web. I'm well enough, though to offer this grammar note: commas go inside the quotes, "like this," and like this:
"porcelain powder,"
Given your site's subtitle, thought you might appreciate the tip.
Look forward to exploring more on your site.
Posted by: Marjorie Roswell on September 2, 2003 4:16 AM
Thanks for your kind comments about the site.
Comma placement is a matter of style, not of grammar. While placement of commas inside quotation marks is usual in the USA, British usage is the opposite. Call it an affectation, but I prefer the appearance (and underlying logic) of commas outside quotes.
Posted by: David on September 2, 2003 1:12 PM
Cellini was notorious for (among many other things) alloying pure gold provided by his patrons and providing them with pieces apparently as low as 5 carats. This is a probable reason for the lack of surviving examples of his undoubtably brilliant but corrupt workmanship. His "The Life" is one of the exceptiona warts and all autobiographies.
Commas are probably superfluous when quotation marks are used. The parentheses provide enough break in the context!!
Good site.
Scope
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