Donald John Vitale - Page 2




                                        - 2 -                                         
          James Earl Fraser.  Petitioner resided in Colesville, Maryland,             
          when the petition was filed in this case.                                   
               The facts may be summarized as follows.  Petitioner's home             
          was burglarized some time between January 24-29, 1994.  Among the           
          items stolen was an 18-inch bronze sculpture (the bronze) known             
          as "The End of the Trail" attributed to James Earl Fraser, a                
          noted American artist (1876-1953).  Petitioner had acquired the             
          bronze from his father in 1974 by inter vivos gift.  In turn, the           
          father had acquired the bronze from petitioner's grandfather at             
          the grandfather's death in 1972.  The grandfather presumably                
          purchased the bronze sometime around 1920.  Petitioner is unaware           
          whether a gift tax return was filed in 1974 for the gift.                   
               There were several versions of "The End of the Trail"                  
          produced by Fraser around 1918.  The largest version was never              
          cast; the plaster version, however, is at the Cowboy Hall of Fame           
          in Oklahoma City.  Fraser did not copyright some versions of "The           
          End of the Trail", and there were various copies made almost from           
          the date of the original release.  While petitioner believes that           
          the bronze he acquired was an original, he does not know which              
          version he had or, indeed, whether the bronze, in fact, was an              
          original Fraser or an old copy.                                             
               The parties have been unable to find any sales of 18-inch              
          bronzes of "The End of the Trail" around 1972.  There have been             
          three sales of 12-inch versions:  1971 for $3,250; 1972 for                 






Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011