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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 6 august 2018
The Algonquin Hotel throws a 'purrty,' feline fashion show

By LEANNE ITALIE more's greatest stage role.
Associated Press "They thought the name
NEW YORK (AP) — The "me- Hamlet was more dignified
owdels" wore couture and for the Algonquin," said Al-
the crowd was cat-tastic at ice De Almeida, the hotel's
The Algonquin Hotel's an- Chief Cat Officer. "And a
nual feline fashion show, legend was born."
presided over by the histor- Hamlet is, indeed, the
ic Times Square establish- eighth Hamlet at the Al-
ment's 12th resident cat, a gonquin, which has also
ginger boy with a theatrical been home to three cats
name, Hamlet VIII. named Matildas — rescues
Thursday's theme for the each and every one.
catwalk and lobby party, "We have no clue who
with some human attend- picked the name Matilda
ees in cat-ear headbands or why," De Almeida said.
and feline-adorned finery, The current Hamlet is a
was "The Purring '20s." That's people cat, though he's
the era that Dorothy Park- not terribly fond of huge TV
er, George S. Kaufman, cameras. He loves a good
Alexander Woollcott and scratch behind the ears,
other writers, critics, actors De Almeida said. The ho-
and all-around wits first sat tel chef cooks him special
around the hotel's famed In this Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018 photo, photographers take photos of Merlin, dressed in a 1920s tail meals on holidays and his
Round Table. tuxedo and top hat on red carpet during cat fashion show at Algonquin Hotel in New York. portrait hangs above the
Hamlet VIII made his party Associated Press front desk. The white-glove
debut this year, perched treatment for felines stretch-
in his treehouse at the front for the Mayor's Alliance for laces, a pink-fringe flap- is a bit murky but dates to es back to Rusty, who had
desk, strutting for guests NYC's Animals, which helps per dress and feather head the early '20s with Billy, who the run of the hotel (Hamlet
in a sparkly silver bow tie support more than 150 ani- band worn by a longhair during the heyday of the VIII is restricted to the front
as about 150 human par- mal shelters and rescues in named Aine, and a knock- Round Table belonged desk area) and was given
tiers munched on hors New York. Organizers said out orange youngster that to hotel owner and man- milk out of a Champagne
d'oeuvres and sipped wine. more than $10,000 was ex- goes by Mango in bowler ager Frank Case. After Billy glass, De Almeida said. As
Their camera phones were pected to be raised, fueled hat and double-breasted passed away, so the story for the Round Table crowd
at the ready as four-legged in part by $75-a-pop ticket tuxedo. goes, a stray marmalade and whether they were cat
models were held by their sales and a silent auction. A chill girl rescue named cat made his way into the people, she wasn't sure.
owners for a red carpet As for the fashion, it came Sake got a wide-brim gar- hotel in the early 1930s and "We know Dorothy Parker
walk, including a tiny cutie courtesy of "certified" pet den hat and lavender low- was declared Rusty. The had dogs," De Almeida
just a month old, a black fashion designer Ada waisted dress a la the Roar- name didn't sit well with said. "At that time there
rescue named Frank Sina- Nieves. Leather? Absolutely ing '20s, while Baloo scored actor John Barrymore, a was no board of health,
tra. His bespoke ensemble not, she told The Associat- a striped zoot suit for his big hotel resident at the time, so Rusty was in and out
included a puffy red news- ed Press in a pre-show inter- runway moment. so Rusty became the first of rooms, and they had a
boy hat. view. There were Art Deco The long history of cats Hamlet, honoring what is special door for him to go
The event is a fundraiser touches in crystals and presiding at The Algonquin said to have been Barry- in and out of the kitchen.q

US art collector returns 12 ancient artifacts to Thailand

By KAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA northeastern province of mation has been forward- the two lintels are no longer
BANGKOK (AP) — A private Udon Thani. ed to the U.S. Department on display as the claims and
American collector has re- Vira, speaking Thursday at a of Homeland Security as effort to recall the items are
turned a dozen ancient news conference in Bang- part of Thailand's quest to being considered.
artifacts to Thailand as the kok, said Thailand is seeking have them returned. The U.S. government in 2014
Southeast Asian country the return from museums in Anandha Chuchoti, direc- returned 554 ancient arti-
presses for other treasures the United States of other tor general of Thailand's facts, mostly pottery, that
that were taken abroad to items that were taken ille- Fine Arts Department, said had been taken from Ban
be given back. gally from the country, and Thai officials are also pro- Chiang, which is a UNESCO
Culture minister Vira Rojpo- has been gathering evi- viding evidence to prove World Heritage Site.
jchanarat said the artifacts dence to back its claims. that two ancient lintels on The pieces were recovered
were given by Katherine Thai officials have been display at the Asian Art Mu- in a 2008 raid on the Bow-
Ayers-Mannix to the Thai tracking artifacts such as seum in San Francisco were ers Museum in Santa Ana,
Embassy in Washington, nine ancient Buddhist rel- stolen from ancient tem- California, which agreed
D.C., which shipped them ics that are on display at ples in Thailand's northeast- to return the items to Thai-
back to Thailand. the Norton Simon Museum ern provinces of Buriram land in exchange for none
The items are believed to In this undated photo, in Thai- in California, as well as 17 and Sa Kaeo. of its staff facing criminal
have mostly come from land, a clay vessel believed other relics on display at "We want to send (informa- charges. The raid was part
a prehistoric civilization to be from the 4,000-year-old the Honolulu Museum of Art tion) to confirm that these of a multiyear investigation
dating back more than civilization of northeastern in Hawaii. He said 14 out of lintels have Thai origins and in which three other Califor-
Thailand known as the Ban
4,000 years that was cen- Chiang, is on display. the 17 items in Hawaii have had made their way out nia museums and two pri-
tered around Ban Chiang, Associated Press been confirmed to have of the kingdom illegally," vate art dealerships were
in what is now Thailand's Thai origins, and that infor- Anandha said, adding that also raided. q