Boy’s joke fails to amuse school

AN AMERICAN high school pupil’s “joke” misfired. Kylan Scheele put his school, Truman High School in Independence, Missouri, up for sale on the website Craigslist, with a starting bid of $12 725 (about R163 000).

Among the school’s assets he listed “Huge 20+ room facility”. He also wrote: “Reason for sale is due to loss of students coming up.”

Scheele said he meant the school’s loss of seniors as theye enrolled at college. But the school was not amused. He was suspended and banned from graduation. – Auctions Writer THE ORANGE Murano glass bird sculpture that caused a flurry at Cannon’s sale in Hilton (see story right) was designed by Venetian architect and designer Alessandro Pianon (1931-1984).

In 1956, Pianon was commissioned by the leading Venetian glassware producer, Vetreria Vistosi, to design a logo for the company (still in business today). The firm was so impressed by his work that Pianon ended up designing numerous glass items. The firm employs some of the finest glass blowers in Europe.

Colourful and collectable Murano glass is made on the Venetian island of Murano where in 1291 the mayor of Venice had decreed all local glass factories should be based to avoid the risk of fire destroying the rest of the city.

Today, Murano is home to several glass factories and artists’ studios making diverse glass objects ranging from mass marketed stemware to prized original sculptures.

An undamaged circa 1960s Pulcino chick, similar to the slightly damaged glass sculpture auctioned by Cannon’s in Hilton, fetched nearly R40 000 at a Christie’s sale in London in 2014. – Auctions Writer