Hi Mark Chamovitz,

Thanks for sharing your story about Neptune’s Stallions. Surely rarities that have been damaged are worth conserving and preserving. Congratulations; the piece is museum-worthy. In the meantime… I hope you enjoy YOUR guardianship of this lost wax treasure.

What troubles me in your story is how the legs broke off during shipping. I’ll allow that perhaps the glue that was used on them was dry and brittle, and that the motion during shipment might have dislodged them, regardless of the care that was taken in the packing. But if the auction house had employed TRULY careful packing, I daresay it wouldn’t have happened.

I believe this topic has been raised in the G.G. before, but have other members had trouble when purchasing glass at reputable auction houses (or second- or third-tier auction houses)? I refer specifically to breakage in shipment.

Michael Krumme, Los Angeles