Maine Antique Digest May 2015

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18-E Maine Antique Digest, May 2015
- FEATURE -
Librarians get asked lots of
odd questions—can you
help me find the red cook-
book I was looking at last week,
what foods float, am I divorced?
(yes, seriously, all of those)—but
many of them would say their
favorite question comes when
someone just wants a good book
to read.
Librarians refer to this as read-
ers’ advisory, pairing someone
up with a new favorite book,
and they actually take it very
seriously and get trained to do
it. It isn’t as simple as it sounds.
If the person standing in front of
you loves Nora Roberts, he or
she is likely not going to want
James Patterson, or vice versa,
but it’s more complicated than
that. People can love Stephen
King and not like Clive Barker,
they can like romance but only
if it’s historical, they can like
historical fiction but only if it’s
a mystery or only if it’s set in
London or only if it’s got a feline
detective. This is not at all unlike
matchmaking, and you can’t be
that person who just keeps send-
ing the same guy on a date with
everyone.
So, in order to figure out what
you might like next, readers’
advisory folks will ask all sorts
of odd questions of their own,
including things like “What
book would you most like to
go live in?” (Hollie finds this
question one for which it is dif-
ficult to narrow down answers.
Sometimes all she wants is to
go live in the minivan.) In terms
of antique décor, we’ve also
had this conversation about our
favorite movies and television
The Young Collector
TV Guide (to Antiques)
by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond
In terms of antique décor, we’ve
also had this conversation
about our favorite movies and
television shows—which one
would you want to go live in?
shows—which one would you
want to go live in?
It would seem, based on the
national news, that Illinois first-
term congressman Aaron Schock
would like to go live in Downton
Abbey. Schock, a charismatic,
youthful guy, had his Rayburn
House Office Building space
overhauled not in the usual
subdued palette available to his
office mates (which in fairness
does seem to offer all the range
of the colors found in an Eas-
ter basket) but in a dark, rich
red. Photos of the interior show
lots of gilt frames and pheasant
feathers. Photos of Schock—
well, there have been fewer of
those lately.
Downton is, however, inspir-
ing style trends, and we’d be
interested to see or hear if it’s
reached the dealer level of the
marketplace yet. The show has
certainly inspired dozens, if not
hundreds, of museum exhibi-
tions, from major blockbuster
shows like Winterthur’s Cos-
tumes of Downton Abbey to
those curated by local historical
societies playing to the Edward-
ian-era strengths of their collec-
tions—as well as by institutions
that simply saw an opportunity
to capitalize on the popularity of
the show and get visitors in the
door. This, by the way, led to a
number of heated discussions
we saw on social media, with
accusations of pandering and
“edutainment.”
Whenever a number of
attempts are made to build on
something popular, there will
be varying levels of success, but
plenty of places like Winterthur
did a great job of making infor-
mative shows that also shed
some light on the lifestyles and
history of the homes’ original
occupants. (In terms of movies
and style periods, Titanic is also
of the Edwardian era. After all,
Titanic is what started this whole
soapy mess on Downton to begin
with! But we’d worry about any-
one who said he or she wanted to
go live in Titanic. Maybe Titanic
was what Schock had in mind.
After all, his career has certainly
sunk.)
If you want to live in Down-
ton Abbey, you are in luck!
You can easily be lord of your
very own manor. The Dowager
Countess would certainly sniff
if we insinuated that such things
are downright cheap, but they
certainly are affordable. (Not
butlers though. Butlers are still
expensive.) Avoid the high retail
prices of now former congress-
man Schock’s designer (and lay
off the pheasant feathers), and
just hit local shops, shows, and
auctions where you’ll be sure
to find lots of gilt frames, club
chairs, and glossy wood. Or for
those of us who know better than
to aspire to upstairs, make your-
self at home in Mrs. Patmore’s
kitchen. Copper is fairly cheap,
stoves often go at scrap value,
and even if you don’t have a Car-
son to order someone to polish
your silver, think about buying
some silver plate, easily accom-
plished with a boxful from any
number of places. Truly, we can
only hope people buy antiques
for this look—much of it was
handmade, but virtually all of it
is of better quality and construc-
tion than anything available new.
If one is looking to escape the
here and now, one might as well
do it up right and consider escap-
ing to somewhere otherworldly
like Middle-earth. Andrew has
declared that someday we will
load up a truck, sell everything
we have, and start over by fur-
nishing our retirement home—
an Arts and Crafts hobbit hole.
We have lived in holes before,
because, you know, we were
grad students, but this time we
would like it to be a comfortable
one (and Tolkien does make a
point of assuring us that hobbit
holes do, in fact, “mean com-
fort”). While we may never
achieve an actual hobbit hole
replete with exposed beams,
exquisite ironwork, and oak fur-
niture, perhaps we’ll settle for a
nice bungalow somewhere with
built-in shelves for Arts and
Crafts-style art pottery and met-
alwares and hope the neighbors
don’t fixate on our jewelry. Of
course, if you don’t care for Arts
and Crafts, you can go live with
the elves and embrace Art Nou-
veau and plaster elongated lilies
on everything! (If the dwarves
appeal to you, there’s always
Game of Thrones décor. Because
no matter what you say, it’s not
really a man cave without a chair
made of swords.)
If you are not a fan of sinewy
Art Nouveau, how about stream-
lined Art Deco? You could live
in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great
Gatsby, where, instead of elon-
gated lilies, you get elongated,
angular symmetrical geometric
forms! Art Deco furniture can be
a little pricey, but in a pinch, you
can buy second- and third-tier
mid-century modern and a lot of
gin, and squint. Be careful on the
spiral stairs, though—martinis
and spiral stairs do not mix.
Speaking of martinis and
mid-century modern—some
style eras don’t need a boost
in popularity, but mid-cen-
tury certainly gets one from
Don Draper and his Madison
Avenue coworkers. Mad Men
actually seems to be driving
the demand for reproductions
of some objects, like the now-
iconic silver-rimmed barware
designed by Dorothy Thorpe,
although you can still easily find
the vintage stuff at affordable
prices on eBay. (Don’s bar cart,
however, is now in the Smithso-
nian.) There are even websites
that help identify all the great
mid-century stuff in the offices
of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce,
or you could ask any mid-cen-
tury dealer who wants to make
sales to new customers.
One of the things we’ve
come to love about Mad Men is
how the show’s interiors have
changed over time. From the
opening episodes set in the late
1950s to the current episodes,
which are moving into the
1970s, everything has changed.
Have you noticed that the sleek,
contemporary designs are for
the “cool” characters, but Betty
and her stick-in-the-mud second
husband are living in a fussy
Colonial home filled with puffy
upholstered sofas and enough
drapery fabric for half the homes
in Levittown? Of course, if we
wanted to live in Mad Men,
we’d just move into our parents’
basements.
If you are a traditionalist with
no desire to return to the days
of yore or the days of avocado
refrigerators, House of Cards is
great for Federal-style and Fed-
eral interiors. From the archi-
tectural details to replicas of
the White House rooms, there’s
plenty to draw inspiration from.
Just go more Classical than cubi-
cle. (And contrary to presenta-
tion, a little color wouldn’t kill
anyone. The Underwood version
of the White House looks like a
hotel room.) As if we haven’t all
seen how reasonable the prices
of early American formal furni-
ture are! You don’t need to buy
Seymour and Willard to get the
look.
Meanwhile, too many peo-
ple are currently living in The
Sopranos. No, we are not going
to pick on New Jersey. It’s the
McMansion model—overpriced
“décor” that is often cheap in
every sense but price, with beige
carpet and beige walls and con-
tractor-choice lighting fixtures.
C’mon, Tony. If you’re still alive
(and we believe you are), visit
the Newark Museum and get
a few ideas about art and style.
And then go buy yourself a kast.
History, quality, form, func-
tion—and a great place to hide
a body.
While talking about antiques
in terms of pop culture may
seem tongue in cheek, pop cul-
ture is where most young(er)
people direct a significant por-
tion of their time and energy.
They watch these shows, often
obsessively, read about them,
participate in online and water
cooler discussions about them,
and binge watch entire seasons
in a weekend. In an age where
people often feel disconnected
and lack a sense of community,
the shared love of a popular
show can create connections
and forge friendships. Connect-
ing with folks is just like read-
ers’ advisory—we can keep
telling them about our favorite
world or ask them about theirs.
We welcome ideas, tips, criti-
cisms, and questions regard-
ing “The Young Collector.”
We may be reached by e-mail
Collector, c/o Maine Antique
Digest, PO Box 1429, Waldo-
boro, ME 04572.