A British antique collector paid $85,000 for a taxidermied head mislabeled as a fox, then confirmed through X-ray and CT scans that it belonged to a Tasmanian Tiger, an apex predator extinct since 1936. James Cranfield, a 38-year-old natural history relics dealer who specializes in collecting unusual fox heads, was scrolling an auction site when […] The post Flea market 'fox head' turns out to be one of two known Tasmanian Tiger specimens on Earth appeared first on American Almanac .
A British antique collector paid $85,000 for a taxidermied head mislabeled as a fox, then confirmed through X-ray and CT scans that it belonged to a Tasmanian Tiger, an apex predator extinct since 1936. James Cranfield, a 38-year-old natural history relics dealer who specializes in collecting unusual fox heads, was scrolling an auction site when he spotted a listing for a "19th century fox head" consigned to Auctioneum, an auction house in Bristol, England. The image stopped him cold. The proportions were wrong. The teeth were wrong. Cranfield counted eight upper incisors in the photograph, two more than any fox has ever carried. He believed he was looking at the head of a thylacine, commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger, a carnivorous…Open
An 80-year-old New York psychologist wants to donate a miniature castle worth $329,000 per square foot to the White House, and nobody in Washington has said yes or no. Dr. Michael Freeman has spent roughly three decades as the owner of the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, a 9-foot-tall, 29-room structure packed with 10,000 handcrafted furnishings that […] The post A 9-foot dollhouse valued at $8.5 million may be the priciest real estate per square foot on Earth appeared first on American Almanac .
An 80-year-old New York psychologist wants to donate a miniature castle worth $329,000 per square foot to the White House, and nobody in Washington has said yes or no. Dr. Michael Freeman has spent roughly three decades as the owner of the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, a 9-foot-tall, 29-room structure packed with 10,000 handcrafted furnishings that the New York Post reports is valued at a minimum of $8.5 million. At just 25.8 square feet of floor space, that works out to roughly $329,000 per square foot, a figure that would dwarf the most expensive penthouses in Manhattan or London. Freeman, a PhD psychologist who lives in Kings Point on Long Island, now says he and his wife Lois are deciding what to do with the structure. His preference is…Open
Officials scrambled to reassure Mexicans that a collection of esteemed artworks would return by 2028. A rarely-seen will may clarify the collector’s wishes.