By W.A. Demers

GREAT BARRINGTON, MASS. — A Great Barrington antiques dealer has gone to court over fraudulent payment for three antique Chinese items purchased from his store.

Paul Kleinwald has filed an affidavit notice of default against a New York man he accuses of kiting a bad check in the amount of $1,200 for three Chinese antique items purchased from his shop in August. In the affidavit to the court, Kleinwald stated that he had tried to communicate with the man by phone and by letter but had neither received the funds nor had the items returned.

The three items are:

1. A silver Chinese opium pipe with brass or gold and copper overlay featuring a man with a long-handled net catching birds in a tree, probably second half of the Nineteenth Century. There are Chinese engraved characters on the pipe;

2. A Nineteenth Century Chinese black lacquer fan with “thousand faces” design on the folding paper; and

3. A late Eighteenth Century Chinese teapot under plate with floral designs.

The New York man failed to appear at an arraignment conducted on October 24, 2024, in the Southern Berkshire District Court of Massachusetts. Judge John McKenna was presiding. The accused’s failure to appear resulted in an arrest warrant being issued. The docket number is 2429CR000660.

Anyone seeing these items being offered for sale is asked to contact the Great Barrington Police Department at 413-528-0306.